“I feel it is a healing center:” Giving Women a Safe Haven from Conflict and Displacement in Northeast Nigeria
By Crystal Wells
Now in its ninth year, the grinding conflict with the militant group Boko Haram sparked the largest humanitarian crisis in Africa, with millions of civilians displaced from their homes, unable to feed themselves, and exposed to egregious human rights violations. The endless violence and displacement puts women and girls at-risk of violent attacks, including rape and sexual assault. The humanitarian community estimates more than two million survivors of gender-based violence require specialized services. On top of this, Boko Haram has repeatedly abducted women and girls, while often using the youngest and most vulnerable to execute suicide bombings.
With support from the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA), International Medical Corps is actively working to prevent and respond to cases of gender-based violence in Borno, Nigeria’s most conflict-affected state. At the heart of this program are safe havens known as women-friendly spaces, where women come together to socialize, make handicrafts to support their families, and quietly seek services for gender-based violence as needed.
USAID/OFDA funds a women-friendly space in Shehurinorth, a neighborhood of the Borno State capital Maiduguri where a high number of displaced families have sought refuge from Boko Haram. Fifty women on average visit the center each day.
The center is supported by a team of community outreach volunteers, who raise awareness in their communities about what gender-based violence is and encourage women and girls to visit their local women-friendly space.
One woman said: “When the outreach volunteer visited me, I was so eager to come because I could find help.”
At the center, women socialize as they work on handicrafts that they sell in the local market. This includes traditional embroidered Nigeria caps, pictured here, as well as knitted home decorations, fans, and beaded handbags and jewelry.
The livelihoods activities are important because they not only provide a therapeutic activity women can do together, but also help them gain some financial independence.
“The center has impacted my life so much,” said a mother of six. “I used the money [I made] to buy more material to make more hats and I am now able to send my children to school.”
The women use the money from the goods they make to buy food, toiletries, and send their children to school. Many of the women report that their husbands often withhold financial assets as a way to exert control.
The women-friendly space also offers case management services for survivors of gender-based violence. This includes referrals to medical care, legal and security protection, and psychosocial support.
Women bring their children to the center, creating a warm, family-friendly environment that offers them a strong support network. “I feel it is a healing center,” said one. “When I am here, I forget my problems at home and don’t think about my trauma.”
With Boko Haram still in control of many of the homes they fled, the women in Shehurinorth face an uncertain future. For them, the center is a welcome constant and source of community, even in the chaos of conflict.
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