Category: Gender

When a tradition hurts more than it heals, it’s time to ask hard questions.

In Enugu State, our journey toward community-led change is taking shape, one conversation, one community, one honest truth at a time.

SSDO conducted a baseline assessment that revealed deeply troubling statistics:
🔹 22% of women in Enugu State have experienced sexual assault.
🔹 41% were first assaulted from the age of 15.

But the numbers told only part of the story.

Our analysis pointed to a critical connection between gender-based violence (GBV) and harmful traditional practices – practices that are normalized, passed down, and rarely questioned.

To understand the specifics, we launched a Community Needs Assessment across all 17 Local Government Areas, reaching into everyday realities that national data often misses. We asked hard questions, conducted surveys, and listened closely, not to prove a point, but to uncover the truth.

The stories we heard were disturbing yet familiar:

• Girls married off to trees.
• Women denied inheritance.
• Masquerade festivals that limit women’s movement.
• Young wives punished in silence.

Community Entry: Trust First

As researchers and development workers, we know that change doesn’t happen without consent. That’s why we began the next phase of our work with community entry – a culturally grounded process of introduction and mutual respect.

In the past month, we completed community entry in 22 communities across Enugu State.

From Ihenyi to Aninri, we sat with traditional rulers, women leaders, town union executives, and community elders. We listened before we spoke. We shared our findings. And we invited communities to lead the conversation about what needs to change and how.

These meetings weren’t always easy. They were filled with honest debate, differing worldviews, and moments of deep cultural reflection. But they were necessary. And they were received with warmth, curiosity, and the kind of openness that signals true readiness for transformation.

What’s Next: Engaging Stakeholders

Now, we move to the next phase: stakeholder engagement.

We are convening the very people who influence cultural norms – traditional rulers, religious leaders, women’s groups, youth reps, and local influencers. These are the gatekeepers and bridge-builders, the ones whose voices carry both legacy and the power to shift it.

Our goal is not to impose, but to collaborate and to shape solutions that protect without erasing culture, and empower without creating division.

Looking Ahead: Building Women’s Agency
Beyond meetings and conversations, we want women in these communities to lead the change.

The final phase of this cycle will focus on building women’s agency; equipping them with tools, knowledge, and confidence to lead step-down activities, raise awareness, and challenge harmful norms from within, because real change doesn’t come from the outside. It comes when women are seen, heard, and supported; not in whispers, but in full voice.

South Saharan Social Development Organisation (SSDO) welcomed a delegation from the Ford Foundation on a supervisory visit. This visit spotlighted the ongoing work under the Community Partnership for the Elimination of Gender-Based Violence (COMPEG) project, a vital initiative aimed at fostering safer, more equitable communities across our focus areas.

Listening to Impact, Learning from Experience

The Ford Foundation team spent time engaging closely with SSDO project staff, gaining a firsthand understanding of the work being done on the ground. More importantly, they connected with some of the women and girls whose lives have been directly impacted by COMPEG.

These intimate conversations revealed the transformative power of community-based support systems and the strength of survivors who continue to rise, rebuild, and reclaim their dignity.

Standing Together Against GBV

At SSDO, we believe that ending gender-based violence requires more than just interventions. It requires partnerships rooted in trust, shared values, and deep commitment. The Ford Foundation’s visit reaffirmed that belief and reminded us that we are not in this fight alone.

Their continued support fuels our resolve to break cycles of abuse, amplify survivor voices, and push for systemic change that protects and empowers women and girls.

Forward, Together
We are deeply grateful to the Ford Foundation for walking this journey with us. As we push forward, SSDO remains unwavering in our vision: communities where every woman and girl lives free from violence, with the freedom and tools to thrive.