Maryam Awaisu, a writer activist, and one of the leading campaigners of #ArewaMeToo, an online campaign against sexual violence, especially against women, in northern Nigeria was released hours after she was arrested on Tuesday by men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigerian police in her office in Kaduna.
The London-based human rights group, Amnesty International (AI) confirmed her release. “Maryam Awaisu has been released,” AI said on Twitter. “Though she is free now, her arrest and detention were aimed at intimidating women rights activists pursuing justice for victims of sexual violence.”
The Nigerian police did not give any reason why she Awaisu was arrested, but AI in Nigeria said, it was in connection “to her involvement in seeking justice for victims of sexual abuse.” Actions such as the Tuesday arrest of Awaisu can deter victims of sexual violence from seeking justice.
“While arresting Maryam, the police attempted to gain access to her laptop and mobile phone by force,” Amnesty said in a statement. “This is clearly an effort to access the sensitive evidence she and other human rights defenders have been gathering to seek justice for victims of sexual violence.”
Nigeria is notorious for its underwhelming prosecution of perpetrators of sexual violence against women, a situation which allows violation of women, including children that could barely talk, go on almost unchecked.
A 2015 report by UNICEF notes that that one in four girls and one in ten boys had experienced sexual violence before the age of 18. Non-government organizations, some with focus on digital movement like #ArewaMeToo, in recent months have championed the cause of women who have been assaulted.
“For too long, Nigeria’s women have been facing various kinds of sexual violence that seldom receives proper attention from the country’s law enforcement agencies,” AI said, adding: “It is unacceptable that women working on behalf of these victims are subjected to such arrest and intimidation, and we fear that these actions may prevent victims of sexual violence from pursuing justice.”
