Segun Atanda/
Some Nigerian women marched peacefully yesterday against sexual harassment in markets, drawing attention to unspoken incidents of bullying, groping and name calling of their gender by menfolk.
The march in Lagos took off from Ojuelegba and streamed to Yaba, where demonstrators to their surprise were still confronted, despite police presence, with the same abuse by male chauvinists, with some even invoking holy ghost fire against them, according to videos posted on Twitter by some of the marchers.
“Yaba boys threw water and stones at us. It was as if we unleashed the beast in them and today I saw the physical demonstration of misogyny. They got aggressive and resorted to physical abuse”, reported Moromoke on Twitter.
Amaka_Sandra1 also wrote on Twitter: “An interesting day today guys. I was at the #MarketMarchYaba and just because we said “stop touching us”, they booed us, called us prostitutes, lesbians and jobless people. They also threw pure water at us, one landed right on my chest. A guy even touched me TWICE!!!”
She wrote further: “They said a lot of things I’ve seen here from “educated men”.
If you don’t want us touch you dress well.
Who are you that we shouldn’t touch you.
If you don’t want us to touch you don’t come here. You should be fighting for more important things (this made me laugh)..”