I Won’t Be Silent Anymore: Hashtag Activism in Nigeria

Abstract

Gender equality is still a major bane confronting the Nigerian state as deep rooted socio-cultural and colonial issues have continued to influence society's views of who a woman is and her sense of being. Therefore, Nigerian women, widely considered as “second class citizens,” are subjected to numerous abuses and denied socio-cultural, political and economic benefits such as education, equal opportunities, and freedom. The #BringBackOurGirls movement, although established to mainly advocate for the release of the over 200 abducted Chibok school girls by Boko Haram, has however used the emerged platform of digital activism to challenge normative discourse about women and violence meted out to women and girl children within the Nigerian state. Consequently, the movement is argued to be at the forefront advocating for social change towards women and girl children by producing a counter-discourse which seeks to promote gender equality and safe education for girl children.

Keywords:

• discourse
• feminism
• women
• girls activism
• hashtag
• Nigeria