The situation of women and girls in my country is heartbreaking. Human beings have being fighting women rights since the dawn of our civilization yet gender-based violence is still a problem in the 21st century.
While thousands of people around the world are experiencing a physical and social lockdown, I want them to think about all these women who have been and are condemned to live in the state of a physical, psychological, and social lockdown. The situation of women in my country is worse than that of men in a lockdown in some countries. They have been locked down for centuries and the future, if you don't change it, will be similar to the past.
In our fight for gender-based violence, we should tackle the cradle of that problem, a lack of education.
The freedom of women cannot be achieved without education.
Beyond offering them the opportunity to have their own income and have financial freedom, education will open their minds and allow them to see the world with the right and proper lenses.
Education will uplift them, and drive them in the quest for a better world, and a better environment not only for themselves but for the next generation.
The open-mindedness that arises from a good education is unique and is the light and energy that women need to change their own narrative. No one will change that narrative except them and this requires a good education.
An educated women is that woman who has sufficient knowledge to understand her surroundings and to draw plans for her future and the future of her children and entourage.
Education is a sustainable solution to this problem because education is meant to be shared, the most beautiful inheritance that a woman can give to her children who in their turn will see the world in a different way where equality is normalcy.
We have seen our education has changed the narrative of women in other countries, it is time for us as a country to make that change, we need it my sisters need it!
I was born and raised in Niger, thanks to the hard work of my parents, I have not been a victim of child marriage and violence. My father, a traditionalist Kanuri man, has never been to school yet he is one of the strongest advocate for women rights I know. If that man, a septuagenarian can fight for gender equality and women rights, I believe every man can and should do the same.
If my parents haven't created that environment in which, I felt safe, powerful and confident, I wouldn't be able today to become a NASA scientist at the age of 29.
Thanks to my education, I've been able to travel the world, study and work in many countries, learn other languages and understand other cultures. I've come to question my own culture and our way of living. I've come to see some behaviors as a problem and barriers for women to achieve success such as gender based violence even the ones qualified as harmless. Education has helped to think about sustainable solutions to these problems. I want every single girl to have the same opportunity to be free and ready to conquer the world. Because women conditions can't be changed by a single woman rather all women no matter their rank, age, race, and background.
We need to stand up together to fight for our sisters, our daughters, our cousins. We can't be free if they are not.