Advancing Women’s Rights in Nigeria: TechHer Convenes Strategic Forum on Justice, Safety, and Governance

On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2026, TechHer, in partnership with Luminate,Convened a strategic multi-stakeholder forum in Abuja. The event brought together legal professionals, human rights advocates, civil society organisations, media representatives, and young women leaders to examine the systemic challenges facing Nigerian women and to develop
coordinated strategies for advancing justice, safety, and inclusive governance.

The forum, held under the theme “From Rights to Realities: Nigerian Women in 2026,” provided a structured platform for cross-sector engagement on the widening disparity between women’s constitutionally guaranteed rights and their actual lived experiences. Participants engaged in
expert-led panel discussions, collaborative working sessions, and community-informed reflections to assess how both physical violence and technology-facilitated abuse continue to impede women’s full participation in social, political, and civic life.

In her opening address, Gbemisola Adebowale, Women’s Rights and Safety Officer at TechHer, articulated the forum’s core objective.
“The reality for many Nigerian women is that their rights, while codified in law, remain largely inaccessible in practice,” Adebowale stated. “This forum is designed to address that disconnect directly, to evaluate where current systems are falling short, to reinforce effective interventions, and to mobilise collective action toward ensuring that safety and justice function as entitlements, not
aspirations.”

The forum builds upon TechHer’s established record of facilitating multi-stakeholder dialogue on women’s rights. Participants noted that despite meaningful progress in advocacy and the strengthening of legal frameworks, structural barriers, including sexual and gender-based violence,
intimidation within political institutions, and the escalating prevalence of technology-facilitated abuse, continue to limit women’s access to justice and meaningful public engagement.

A cornerstone of the programme was a panel session examining women’s rights, judicial
accountability mechanisms, and institutional reform pathways. Panellists from gender-based violence response agencies, governance institutions, and digital rights organisations assessed the persistent gap between legislative protections and their practical enforcement. The discussion
addressed how harassment, coordinated online attacks, and political marginalisation continue to deter women from participating in governance and public policy discourse.Priye Diri, Head of Programs at the Dorothy Njemanze Foundation, drew attention to the systemic consequences of judicial delays during her contribution to the panel.

“We must acknowledge a fundamental challenge within our justice system: when justice is delayed, it is effectively denied,” Diri stated. “Legislation alone cannot deliver justice. When survivors are compelled to wait years for their cases to progress through the courts, the protections enshrined in law remain abstract and inaccessible.”
Extending the discussion to the role of evidence-based advocacy, Joshua Olufemi, Country Director for Dataphyte, addressed the growing convergence of online and offline harm and the imperative of
rigorous research in strengthening institutional accountability.

“The transition from policy rhetoric to measurable impact in women’s rights requires a foundation of credible evidence,” Olufemi noted. “It is incumbent upon us to integrate data into public discourse,
to document systemic shortcomings with precision, and to equip policymakers with the analytical tools necessary to drive substantive reform.”

Addressing the importance of political engagement, Cynthia Mbamalu, Director of Programmes, issued a clear call to action.
“If there is one civic responsibility that must not be neglected, it is the exercise of your vote,” she stated. “When individuals who are not accountable to women’s interests occupy legislative positions, the policy questions critical to women’s welfare are systematically overlooked. Electoral
participation is the foundational mechanism through which we safeguard accountability and advance justice.”
The programme also featured an interactive podcast-format discussion on justice, institutional safeguarding, and accountability frameworks. Moderated by TechHer’s Communications Officer, Jemimah Inyangudo, the session facilitated a structured yet open exchange between attendees and representatives from judicial institutions and civil society organisations. The dialogue focused on identifying structural deficiencies in Nigeria’s response to violence against women and articulating
the reforms necessary to strengthen institutional accountability.

Sarah Evbotokha, representing the Association of Wives of Traditional Rulers, underscored the critical importance of community-level rights education, identifying awareness gaps as a persistent challenge in underserved communities.
“A woman who is aware of her legal rights is substantially better positioned to exercise them,” Evbotokha observed. “In many communities, harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation continue unabated because affected populations lack awareness that such practices
contravene the law. Rights education at the grassroots level must be pursued as a deliberate,long-term commitment,” she noted, emphasising the systemic shifts required to establish and protect Nigerian women’s rights.

The forum further examined how these challenges disproportionately affect women across intersecting identities. Uche Andrew, a woman with a disability, provided critical insight into the compounded barriers facing women in marginalised populations.
“Women in Nigeria already contend with substantial systemic barriers, but for women with disabilities, these challenges are significantly amplified,” Andrew stated.

“There is an urgent need to adopt intentional approaches to awareness-building and to design interventions that meaningfully
include women with disabilities. Although our circumstances vary, we share a common pursuit of the fundamental rights to safety, dignity, and equitable opportunity.”
The forum concluded with a participatory “Reform Wall” exercise, in which attendees documented priority reforms across three thematic areas: online violence, gender-based violence, and women’s
political participation. The installation functioned as a collective action framework, reflecting both the urgency of the challenges discussed and the collective resolve for systemic change, an intentional effort by TechHer to ensure that the forum’s outcomes extend beyond the event itself.

Throughout the proceedings, participants emphasised that eliminating violence against women demands coordinated institutional commitment, robust enforcement of existing legal protections,
and the sustained inclusion of women’s perspectives in policy and decision-making processes.

In her closing remarks, Jemimah Inyangudo reflected on the strategic importance of sustained dialogue in driving long-term institutional change.
“Forums of this nature are consequential because they transform discourse into commitment,” she stated. “When institutions engage meaningfully with women’s lived experiences, and when communities organise collectively to demand accountability, the conditions for transformative change are materially strengthened.”

The International Women’s Day forum reinforces TechHer’s ongoing mission to address the intersections of technology, rights, and civic participation. Through sustained cross-sector engagement and the systematic amplification of women’s lived experiences, the organisation
continues to advance its advocacy for safer digital and physical environments for women and girls across Nigeria.