West Africa

Participant 1: Okay, so I think from our region, what I would say is that the patriarchal system in West Africa doesn’t allow for things like that [sharing your story]. One, you feel like you…

Facilitator: Do you think the policy should be in different languages? Participant 1: Oh yes. Participant 2: Yes. Participant 3: Yes, definitely. Participant 4: Yes. Participant 2: Can’t it be in English? English is fine,…

I have siblings, and my siblings are girls. So, if something like this were to happen, I think they’d very much encourage me to report it, rumours or not. Because, unfortunately, I feel like all…

[If a friend confided in me that they were sexually assaulted], I will be happy that someone trusts me to confide in me something very important and private, so I would be careful. And what…

Participant 1: I don’t know what word to phrase it with, but [to support a survivor well], you can’t be someone who spreads it around. Participant 2: You have to be a trustworthy person. Participant…

You are absolutely right, people should be able to say what happened to them without the fear of what’s going to happen to them. Let’s say for instance, that [unclear] – the students should not…

Basically, being able to put yourself in the other person’s shoes helps with questions like whether it should be reported or how it should be reported. You should open up your state of mind, especially…

Participant 1: This isn’t the whole of Nigeria, but from the area I am from, I think it has been just a non-said, passed-down idea that it’s such a shameful thing that you just don’t…

The first thing I will tell [a friend who comes to me for advice following sexual assault] is that she has to be strong. First, we must go to a clinic to get proof- crying…

Okay so basically [if a friend came to me for advice following a sexual assault], well, I would appreciate the fact that you came to talk to me, but just to be real I don’t…