In response to the high incidences of gender-based violence in Nigeria, Women at Risk International Foundation (WARIF) has implemented an initiative called the Boys Conversation Café, which was launched officially in June, 2018 to fight rape and sexual violence. The aim of this initiative is to change the attitudes and mindset of boys about rape and sexual abuse, and equip them with the knowledge and tools to assist in the prevention of gender-based violence in their respective environments. In this interview with Angela Onwuzoo, founder of WARIF, Dr. Kemi DaSilva-Ibru, sheds more light on this new initiative and the immense benefits to the Nigerian society at large. Excerpts:
What informed the Boys Conversation Café initiative and how can it address the problem of rape?
During the course of our work in addressing the high incidence of rape and sexual violence against young girls and women across communities in Nigeria, we very quickly realized that a lot of emphasis is placed on protecting and educating the girl child against the act of rape and violence. But there is nothing being done to educate the boys and teach them to be protectors, and not perpetrators. So we decided we would start by engaging the most vulnerable age group; boys between the ages of 13 and 18, and this was how the Boys Conversation Cafe was designed.
Through this initiative, what culture do you intend to instill in the boys?
Presently we intend to change, first, their perception towards women, as well as eliminate inappropriate behavior. Based on the data we have collected through extensive research with the boys, following the sessions we held, there was a significant drop in activities such as drug, alcoholic use and clubbing. We also noticed a positive change in their attitudes towards what they believed to be consent, as well as towards whether or not the mode of dressing of a girl should impact on her being abused by a young boy. So, the data speaks for itself. We can see already that the impact is impressive and we are changing the mindset and behaviour pattern of these young boys.
You reached about 40 secondary school boys in April when you started, what is your target by the end of the year? How many boys do you intend reaching out to?
With regards to what our goal is, it is to reach all boys in secondary schools across Lagos State. For now, as a non-profit organization, we rely solely on external grants and funding and, as a result, we are limited in the number of boys that we can equip. So, I would like to reach out to our communities and encourage more awareness and funding so that we can reach as many boys as possible.
Apart from educating the boy, are there tools for the school teachers to sustain the awareness and educate them further on rape?
Absolutely. The school authorities have been equipped to address many of these issues with tools such as the ‘Save Our Child Protection Policy’ across schools in Lagos State. And by virtue of this policy, teachers are mandated to have designated child protection officers. These teachers are the points of contact for students, who have faced some form of abuse, or have been threatened in any way. They engage with students who need to make a disclosure, or those who just have general questions about rape and violence.
Do you have some sort of monitoring system put in place in each school to check the impact of the awareness?
Yes. There is a ‘train your trainer’ system in place. The boys that we train and educate are then expected to continue the same by visiting other cohort group of boys in their schools and share the knowledge they gathered
from us.
Through this initiative, what message do you have for the public through the foundation and Boys Conversation Café initiative?
The vision of the foundation is to create a society that is free of rape and sexual violence, but we cannot do it alone. It is our collective responsibility, and every one of us has a role to play. Mothers have to bring up both girls and boys to know right from wrong;
fathers have to be good role models to their children; teachers have to educate students on the right and wrong ways to behave, and the government is responsible for accountability with the role of law enforcement and with policies and laws put in place to address this issue. We all need to remember the role each of us needs to play in breaking this
cycle.
The Boys’ Conversation Café is a laudable project, what measures have been put in place to make this sustainable?
We are currently collating all the data from the sessions held with the guidelines designed by the Foundation. With this information and the application of best practices, we intend to design and implement, for the very first time in Nigeria, a curriculum for the Boy-Child that will be part of school curriculum used in all Nigerian secondary schools. Funding, as earlier stated, we are hoping to raise by creating awareness on the issues, and the solution through this initiative, to encourage more sponsorships. We implore everyone
to help in creating this awareness to the initiatives being implemented, so as to help keep them sustainable.
