Stand to End Rape (STER) Initiative will host the second edition of its HERE Campaign from Tuesday, June 25th to Sunday, July 7, 2019, at the Mike Adenuga Centre, 9 Osborne Road, Ikoyi Lagos.
This edition of the HERE Campaign is holding in partnership with Alliance Française and will feature an exhibition of photographs of victims of sexual violence survivors captured by award-winning photographer, Yagazie Emezi, in the very places they were abused.
The exhibition, which will be open through the duration of the campaign, will further bring to light stories of gender-based violence survivors, where they were assaulted, and spotlight the horrific nature of their experience. What you will see through this campaign is that sexual abuse happens mostly in places where the victims feel safe, and usually not in dark, strange places.
On Thursday, July 4th, there will be a cocktail evening where you will meet some of the survivors, listen to their stories and learn more about the work STER does.
Speaking on the exhibition, STER’s Executive Director, Ayodeji Osowobi said, “Overtime, the narrative has been to disbelieve survivors or ignore their stories because the abuse they have faced does not fit the where we ‘expect’ that rape should occur.
“Our data shows rape happening in spaces regarded as ‘invisible’ or ‘safe.’ We hope this exhibition will not only highlight this but bring to our consciousness that survivors aren’t just numbers, they are humans.”
STER is a youth-led organization promoting sexual reproductive health and rights, advocating against gender-based violence and providing holistic psychosocial support to survivors, changing the course of sexual violence and repealing the culture of silence in Nigeria.
