November 25 And Universal Truth

November 25, no doubt, is the 329th day of the year, the 330th day in a leap year in the Gregorian calendar, about 36 days to the end of a calendar year.
Like every other day in history, November 25 is replete with records of events associated with the day remarkable enough to make it the chief of all days. These events range from births of notable personalities, victories, deaths, catastrophies, to defeats, enthronement, revolutions and many more.
Amidst all the historical documentations of the events of November 25, this all-important day in history, is only made popular by an event of 1999; the United Nations’ establishment of the international day for the elimination of violence against women.
Although this was mainly to commemorate the murder of three mirabal sisters for their resistance against the Rafael Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic, it has rather provided a platform to trumpet one outstanding universal truth applicable to all countries, cultures and communities and guess what it is? Very simply put, “violence against women is never acceptable never excusable and never tolerable”. Hence, every activity of ‘this day’ is encapsulated in the unacceptability, inexcusability and intolerance of violence against women irrespective of any form it takes.
The choice of this course above every other event of November 25 may not be far from a dire need for a concerted effort against an enigma that has fastly eroded the society. No wonder, the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon said “we must unite. Violence against women cannot be tolerated in any form , in any context, in any circumstance, by any political leader, or by any government .”
As ambiguous as the name ‘violence’ sounds, it is incredulous to observe that even the perpetrators also feign ignorance of their act as a sin against humanity – May be you should be told that Oscar Pistorius, a South  African – born sprint runner,  faced trial in Pretoria, South Africa over the murder of Reeva Steenkamp, a model, his girl friend.
You may also need to know that even when violence against women do not lead to outright death, it may maim the victim perpetually; a situation that leaves victims in deep emotional trauma for life. Violence could be physical, sexual, emotional and mental. Here in Nigeria, the media is inundated with news of rape, acid attacks, molestation, wife battery and corporal punishment, it is now common sight as men slap, kick, rape and even kill the opposite  sex on the alters of drunkenness; financial issues and resistance to sexual advances.
Acid bath is another dimension of violence against women, which men resort to as a punitive measure when their amorous advances are either turned down or dammed. Sexual violence increases by the day, its nature renders it largely unreported because of the burden of proof necessary for conviction as well as the social stigma attached to it.
Close to the last quarter of this year, the observatory steering committee on violence against women and girls in Rivers State said it has recorded over one hundred and fifty.  cases of violence against women and girls between February and August, 2015 of which about five cases considered to be very serious were followed up and perpetrators arrested and prosecuted.
These are merely the few reported cases, how about the ones that pass unnoticed by individuals and authorities armed enough to protect them the victims Like many would say, Nigeria’s problem does  not lie with promulgation of laws, but with the implementation of existing ones.
The victim who raises alarm of an assault, how protected is she afterall? What is the guarantee that the effort to get justice will not be scuffled by agents expected to protect their interest?
While it is important that the public be educated on the intricacies of various forms of violence and steps to take if need be, it is more important that the government, which is the chief custodian of the rights of the citizenry, rises up to its responsibility of safe guarding the rights of its citizens.
It is quite obvious that once the rights and liberties of a person is undermined, it constitutes a violence against such a one. A person’s right could be violated and trampled upon for several reasons; sometimes because of the fellow’s incapability to help him/herself probably due to some obvious physical, health or even economic challenges or disabilities.
Being at a disadvantaged position has always rendered many susceptible to right-violation tendencies, and the women folk tends to be the very vulnerable class, why?
The why? to this ugly phenomenon has remained unresolved instead, instances of violence against women has remained on the increase  for which  a question was raised is “womanhood also a disability?”