#ChooseToChallenge

Singing and Slamming Women in Niger challenge inequality

By Rahina B. Conteuse, Beautiful Echo, ONG Oralité Plus, Innovate and Learn partner

Women survivors of obstetric fistula singing, acting and laughing out loud. Women singers and slammers disregard their disability and dare to stand up and say “stop! stop the mockery and give us our rights!!! “All this is made possible and facilitated by Voice’s grantees in Niger. Let’s have a look back at the celebration of 8 March, by Oralité Plus, GONI, ANAN, MVH, FNPH and their rightsholders in the town of Maradi, Niger.

The storytellers tell! The slammers slam! And all are demanding!

Song performed by Oralité Plus’ women survivors sharing their fight against obstetric fistula. And even if social reintegration remains difficult, that day all of them were healed.

 We have always talked about ,
 Women in the house,
 Housewives,
 Women of the fields...

 We have been talking for a while about ,
 Female Leadership,
 Women's entrepreneurship,
 Women's Emancipation....

 But the truth,
 You have been emancipated since the dawn of time,
 For you only can give birth, you raise, educate, work hard...
 For sustainability and development,
 In spite of all the difficulties you encounter,
 Just because you're a woman.

From left to right, Kadidja, Djama and Fati, interpreting a common composition, fruit of their different slams and a song by Fati. They talk about their disability, asking them not to be called by degrading names such as the disabled woman, the crouping woman, the crawling woman. They demand to be called by their first names with respect

How about we now talk about a world of equality, a world without gender-based discrimination, a world where your values, your rights, your potential are taken into account, respected and valued.