This has to stop! Enough of GBV.  She looks beautiful when married. Her body is smooth, has never been bruised. The only names you hear her being called during this early marriage life are “bae, honey, sweet, love”, just to mention a few.

Her husband can hardly leave the house. He has to stay with bae. Cooking is done jointly; they eat together, walk together, watch movies together, and laugh together.

Days pass, weeks, months, maybe a year, and he starts coming home late, always agitated. The sweet names are gone. No shopping together any more and communication becomes difficult. He wants to find the food ready, he doesn’t care where it will come from. He says a woman’s role is to prepare food and ensure her husband eats from the house.

Oh, she is carrying his baby. The body changes, and he starts seeing a different person; no more love. She has to continue with her roles even as heavy as she is. He comes back home, reads a newspaper expecting to be served food. As tired and as heavy as she is, the bedroom work she can’t ignore lest it becomes a big issue.  

He starts fighting her, not caring that she is carrying his baby. He starts quarrelling with her more often and life is just unbearable for her but somehow, she encourages herself that he will change with time.  She is afraid of letting herself down, her parents who gave her hand in marriage, those who knew she was married, and so she continues suffering silently with unbearable fights, quarrels, and mistreatments.

This is the scenario in many marriages and communication is just not there. COVID-19 pandemic has revealed a lot of this, especially during the lockdown when husbands had to stay home with their wives for longer periods than they were used to. Many cases of Gender-Based Violence were reported and this is just a sad scenario that has to stop. However, it can only stop if all of us play our parts:

We have to educate ourselves and others about GBV: Many people suffer because of their lack of knowledge. The best prevention is education. Let us all teach our friends, family, and relatives about GBV; what it is and how to prevent it.

Be agents of change: In our capacity, wherever we are, let us be the ones driving the change by taking part in doing what we can to stop GBV. It is not time to look, see, and keep quiet. We have to be the change agents. We are the change we want to see!

Create awareness: Social media is a great tool to create awareness. It helps us to raise our voices on the happenings around us. Let us all fill the social media and call for an end to GBV and there will be a solution globally.

Offer help to GBV survivors: Help can be in the form of connecting the survivors to relevant organizations or platforms where they can be assisted. The survivors also need  prayers and encouragement in order to continue staying strong and positive.

Gender-Based Violence, an enemy of women, and a great obstacle that women face. It deprives them of living dignified lives free from fear. Enough of GBV. This has to stop!