As part of the 16 days activism to end Sexual and Gender Base Violence (SGBV), Safe Space Initiative on Wednesday produced a play called “Mirror Mirror” to project issues around gender based violence across the country.
The play is also focused on providing easy remedy by the introduction of the mobile app-Herfessions to enable survivors find help anonymously.
The Executive Producer for Mirror Mirror and executive director of Think Help Restore (THR) Media, Osasu Edobor in an interview during the showcasing of the play in Abuja, said the federal government should enforce and implement policies and laws to protect victims of violence across the 36 states and the FCT.
Edobor also explained that the stage play commemorates the 16 days of activism in terms of elimination of violence against women, girls and also addresses the economic issue where there is gender inequality in terms of wages and pays.
She said the 16 days of activism for gender base violence also touches on the preference of male over female children and doesn’t have any age range because there is a lesson there from everyone.
Also, the Producer for Mirror Mirror and Executive Director of Safe Space Initiative, Oluwatosin Akinbode Osho said the play is not just addressing the issues of SGBV but looking at it from the society norms on how we grew up as a male or female and how society depicts who we are in the society.
The writer of the play, Omolola lamikora, explained that the play is trying to make people see gender base violence from a personal point of view, to examine themselves and see how they enable SGBV through their silence and protection of the perpetrators.
She said it is not just the person who does it but the society that enables it, it is a ripple effect. “We also trying to entertain and make everybody laugh while passing the needed message.”
One of the director of the play, Mr Dike Chukwumerije, stated that the play centers around gender base violence, looking at the issues and social factors that drive people to support and make apologies for people practicing gender base violence.
He said the play interrogate the factors that make people defend such act, so that all of us can be better at preventing and discouraging it.
Also, the Director of “Mirror Mirror”, Priye Diri explained that SGBV is not just about women . “It is gender so is both women and men . The play is been able to mirror the society .
“We talk about the preference of male over female , we talk about domestic violence , we talk about the rejection of the female child because of her gender (female),” she said.
She said the play is filled with poetry, comedy adding that the play is generally for adults and children .
Safe Space Initiative is a nonprofit using media and technology to fight gender based violence with support from the Dorothy Njemanze Foundation and Jewel Hive Initiative. Additionally, it receives support from AWDF, WARDC, and HiiL.
