OPINION: Men must join the call to ‘bring back our girls’

By Remmy Shawa and David Tamba

Hopefully you’ve seen something on the news or have stumbled across the #BringBackOurGirls hashtag on twitter or facebook. If you haven’t, you should know that more than two hundred Nigerian schoolgirls were abducted by the group Boko Haram a few weeks ago.

These children were simply trying to get an education at a boarding school – which should be a safe space. They should still be there reading, writing and living in peace, not kidnapped in the dead of night by militants, at risk of becoming sex slaves or child brides, at risk of rape or death. Recent reports suggest that more Nigerian girls are being kidnapped from their homes, and the number of girls missing appears to be on the rise. And this week, news reports say that someone claiming to be the leader of Boko Haram said that he is going to sell the girls.

The mothers of these girls are in a state of dismay. They marched to the nation’s capital last week to demand that their government do more to save their daughters. It was called a “Million Women March”. Hundreds of women turned out in heavy rains to demand these girls be saved, marching with signs saying “Find Our Daughters” or “Rescue our Chibok Girls”.

It is not only schoolgirls that are being targeted. In February, more than 40 male students were murdered too. But while all Nigerians are being targeted by this terrorist group, not all Nigerians are visible in the protest actions to push the government to save the girls. While a few men have joined the protests, men have been relatively absent thus far.

We cannot let men off the hook here and leave all of the work on the, albeit strong, shoulders of the mothers. Men who support equality need to stand up. Yes, it was men who stole these girls away in the middle of the night. Yes, it is men who are purchasing these girls as child brides. And indeed, it needs to be men joining with women to bring these girls home.

As leaders of MenEngage, a coalition of boys and men working to engage men in promoting gender equality and women’s rights, we urge men to take a more vocal role in these efforts. It is time for all of us to stand together. The mothers have promised more protests in the days and weeks to come. Men need to show up too. If there is a protest outside of the Nigerian consulate in your country, get there. These are children who were simply trying to learn and they need to be returned home to their families – their mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers.

The mothers have called upon the government to request foreign assistance to get the girls back. We join them in that call. The Nigerian government must act decisively, quickly and strongly, and with the support of the global community at their backs.