Nigeria is facing a reckoning. The recent public shaming of Senator Natasha by Senator Nwaebonyi, filled with slut-shaming and blatant disrespect, has ignited a crucial conversation about the pervasive culture of silencing women who dare to speak out.
Senator Nwaebonyi’s attack, labeling Senator Natasha a “slot” and pointing to her six children from different fathers, is a classic example of how Nigerian society deflects from the real issues – sexual harassment and misconduct – by attacking a woman’s character and sexual history in a broken society like ours. This isn’t about Senator Natasha’s personal life; it’s about power, control, and the deeply ingrained misogyny that allows men to demean women without consequence.
Let’s be clear: A woman’s worth is not determined by her marital status or the number of children she has. In a society where irresponsible men often evade their parental duties, it’s appalling to blame women for the consequences. Senator Natasha, like countless Nigerian women, has been failed by a system that protects men and punishes women for simply existing.
The fear is real: with a government that appears to control the judiciary, Senator Natasha may not receive justice. But this is bigger than one case. This is about every Nigerian woman who has been silenced, shamed, and disbelieved when she tries to speak out about sexual harassment or abuse, rather she is been silenced with her past or cooked up stories.
“If a powerful woman isn’t safe, what chance does an unknown girl have? What becomes of daughters with no name, wives of on body, no connections in a society that values women based on their husbands and their husband’s name and positions? They’ve manipulated our women into defending the very system that oppresses them. What about the dreams of our girls, buried under this oppressive weight? If justice itself is mocked in daylight, what hope remains of us?”
We must break this cycle.
Condemn slut-shaming: It’s a tool of oppression and has no place in a just society.
Support Victims: Create safe spaces for women to share their stories, speak up, without fear of judgment or retaliation.
Demand accountability: Hold perpetrators of sexual harassment and those who enable them responsible for their actions.
Reform the system: Advocate for legal and social reforms that protect women’s rights and ensure justice for victims or survivors.
Probe Enablers; Those who join to support evil or change narrative by body shaming should not be encouraged in a sane society.
This is not just Senator Natasha’s fight. It’s the fight of every Nigerian woman who has ever been silenced, dismissed, or shamed for speaking up. It was your mother yesterday, it could be you tomorrow. We must rise, speak out, and demand a Nigeria where women are heard, respected, and protected. this is not only for women, it could be your wife tomorrow, Natash is someone’s wife they want to sleep with, in the same manner they have impoverished our men and have been sleeping with people’s wives that has become a culture in our society today,
#NigerianWomenRise #EndSlutShaming #JusticeForNatasha #HearOurVoices
