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Two Girlfriends Standing Next to a Fence

Source: Kevin Russ / Getty

Women (and men) all over Twitter have been speaking out on gendered discrimination with the #BeingFemaleInNigeria hashtag. The conversation has long been at the forefront of conversations surrounding issues in Nigeria after the Boko Haram has continuously kidnapped and raped thousands of girls while terrorizing villages in the country’s northern regions. Nigeria also made international news recently when the government banned female genital mutilation—an issue that has impacted 41 percent of Nigerian women.

The Boko Haram, genital mutilation and abortion rights are just some of the major problems women face in the country but this hashtag has given women the license to speak truth to power on some of the biggest and smallest microaggressions impacting them day to day. The hashtag was conceived by the Warmate Book Club, a Nigerian group that had been discussing Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “We Should All Be Feminists” TedTalk. The hashtag went out on Tuesday morning and became one of the top trending conversations in Nigeria and the UK.

Women have been talking about a range of issues including being pressured to stay in abusive relationships to get married and have children as well as housing discrimination, slut-shaming, double standards for men and women and finally, the common notion that women are mentally and physically inferior to men.

In a Huffington Post interview with book club member Tinu Akinwande, she said: “What we are trying to do is open people’s minds to what some people in the society has termed as the norm. We are happy the hashtag has gone worldwide. We never expected all the buzz. This conversation is never ending. And until we speak and create awareness about it this attitude will not change.”

Check out some of the tweets in the conversation below:

RELATED LINKS:

Nigeria Bans Female Genital Mutilation

Bye Bye Goodluck Jonathan: How Muhammadu Buhari Became Nigeria’s New President & What This Means For Boko Haram

Authorities Say Boko Haram Is Winning

Women Talk Everyday Sexism With #BeingFemaleInNigeria Hashtag  was originally published on hellobeautiful.com