Do Sex Workers 'Deserve' Abuse?

Image: Indonesia Expat

Disclaimer: This post has lurid details of sex.

I was scrolling through my timeline on Facebook when I stumbled on a post which, under other circumstances, would have thrown me off. The thumbnail was a naked black girl on all fours with what I could deduce was sperm on her face. Normally, I wouldn’t watch such videos and would report it to Facebook to be taken down for being sexually explicit content, but the caption stayed my scrolling fingers.

Sanitary Pad Drive

A friend of mine – Peace Yashim – contacted me last week about her project for orphans and I completely forgot about it until just now. The campaign is about providing sanitary pads for orphans in Jos, Plateau state, Nigeria. I saw that it was a credible idea and something I would love to partner with her on. It is a big project and we need your help. Here is a summary of the project.

How Meeting Attah Samson Igoche Inspired Me

Attah Igoche at his Office

As my taxi rolled to a stop in front of the building that housed Aiivon Innovation hub, I was a bit nervous. I was supposed to be meeting – for the first time – someone I had been chatting with on Facebook. I wondered what first impression I would be giving and more than that, what impression I would be getting. I was also nervous because I hadn’t done an interview in a long time and I hoped I still had my wits about me.

People Like Us: Tonia Orevba Roberts

Tonia Orevba
Image: Facebook

I woke up thinking of Tonia Orevba Roberts.

Tonia is a beautiful actor cum model whom I met in 2016 at the Royal Arts Academy, Lagos. I had gone to brush up my directing skills, and she had come in as an acting student.

Basic Chick

Have you ever been hated or discriminated against?

I have!

IDPs: Seeing Beyond The Statistics

All Images: Ramatu Ada Ochekliye

A visit to the Internally Displaced People’s camp in Durumi, Abuja on May 28, 2017 was everything I expected it would be; emotionally draining.

#JusticeForChisomAnekwe

I was scrolling through my Facebook timeline and happened on this story by Milly Milly.

On Feminism, Misandry, and Humanity

Image: Ebony Magazine

As more women are discovering—and using—their voices, the dark cloud of patriarchy appears to be slowly retreating, although at the sluggish pace of a limping snail. Of course, there is still a long road ahead before we can confidently say women stand on equal footing with men. But we are certainly not where we were a century ago. In many parts of the world, women can now work in formal settings, vote, run for office, chart their own paths, and inherit property. Progress may be slow, but women are becoming more visible, not just as objects for male pleasure, but as full human beings. And what do we have to thank for this shift? A significant part of it is rooted in feminism.

Choosing Your Role Models

Growing up, I only had Oprah Winfrey to look up to. Yes, I wanted to be a neurosurgeon who found the cure to cancer, but whenever I saw Oprah on TV, I totally connected to her. I was barely seven when I knew I wanted to be like her.

ETIQUETTE FOR SEMI-FORMAL MEETINGS

Hey! Hey!

Ramat is in the building!

So by now, you must have heard I did a post about what turned out to be a horrible meeting BECAUSE I didn’t get food. I don’t play with my food at all!

The '1 Girl, 1 Pad' Campaign

Shades of Us is a forum for open discussions on issues affecting Africa, Africans, and people of African descent, to change the ‘dark continent’ narrative of Africa. Since our inception in 2014, most of our work has been online campaigns for or against social issues and dysfunction. At the start of the year, we pledged to start doing more people-to-people work to affect our society, one community at a time.

Drivers of Misogyny

Beyonce and Serena when they were pregnant.

It saddens me to take this stand today, but it has become necessary.

We All 'Love' God. Yet

We all love God

As is evident

In our packed churches

On Sundays

And all our masjid

From Fajr to Isha

Five times every day.

Find Your Motivation

Today I woke up with absolutely no desire to do anything. I was burned out physically and emotionally and I was beginning to feel like my life could be likened to a hamster and her Ferris wheel.

How The Leader Leads

Image: Adam Woodrey

They put on a grand show

Of cleaning the house

Whenever the boss lady

Is around

The Truly Intelligent One

People read their posts

And say to themselves

'Oh! What intelligence!

What intellectuals!'

They Sold Us A White Savior

Photo by Jan Van Bizar on Pexels

They sold us a white savior

With blond hair and blue eyes

Porcelain skin so clear

And beard so perfectly groomed

He was everything we were not

And represented everything we couldn’t be

So we latched on to his saving power

And hoped that one day

We just may qualify

To be and look like him

She Fell in Love…With Her Best Friend

Image: Rawpixel

It all started like a bad joke in a boring movie. Kayla had gone to see her boyfriend when she bumped into him. He was tall and big, exactly how she liked her men. She smiled and said hello. He did the same. As she walked past him, she mentally noted that his voice was soft, smooth…almost like he was shy.

Why Do Men So Easily Harass Women?

Men in Yaba Market (Nigeria) harassing a woman for demanding an end to street harassment.
Credit: Market March

Most women have been sexually harassed in one way or the other. This could be in the market, at work, in schools, or just walking down the street. Some women have come to expect it as part of their lives. Before I go on my rant – and this is going to be a rant – defining what it means to be sexually harassed is the first call of duty.

Don't Ask Me When I Am Getting Married

The pressure has begun in earnest.

NIPPING THAT SUPERIORITY COMPLEX OFF

I used to have a superiority complex. Yes. I just said that out loud. Pheww! But…let me backtrack a bit to give this context.

To Africans in Countries That Don’t Want Them

An African man being attacked in South Africa.
Image: Reuters

It started in South Africa. Well…it didn’t really. It was, however, one of the first times I had seen something so disturbing. So, for me, it started in South Africa.

Overwhelmed Mothers

Image: Kiwa

There is this woman in the neighborhood I currently reside in. She has a shop where she sells provisions, food items and…wait for it…even fuel! Her shop is right at the corner and every time I have passed her shop on my way back from anywhere, there always seems to be a myriad of people she is attending to. Let me put this out there…I like her hustle.

English Is My First Language—But I Had to Relearn It

Image: Rawpixel on Pinterest

English is my first language. My father is Idoma, my mother is Ebira, and I was born in a predominantly Hausa region—but English has always been the language I think in, speak in, and live in.

Guerrilla Feminism

By Abe Onche

It is not easy being a feminist.