Empowering Women in Evicted Slum Communities

A decade later, less than 3% of the Maroko evictees had been resettled. The vast majority of them remained homeless with no hope of redress for their material losses and psychological pain and suffering. Worse still, during this period, no less than 25 other slum communities were wholly or partially evicted without compensation, resettlement or rehabilitation.

Although the evictions have a negative impact on the lives of all slum residents, research conducted by the Social and Economic Rights Action Centre (SERAC), a partner of WACC, shows that women suffer disproportionately during and after such demolitions. This research is supported by the United National Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) which recognises that women are especially vulnerable during forced evictions because of the extent of statutory and other forms of discrimination they already suffer particularly in relation to property and land rights and access to property and credit. The experiences of women during forced evictions have been likened to the violence suffered by women during armed conflict. In the aftermath of the eviction, many of the women lose their husbands or breadwinners due to either physical injury sustained during the evictions or from social complications after the evictions. These women are thus compelled to bear the sole burden of supporting their families. They are largely denied access to credit because they lack collateral securities and being largely illiterate, are unable to secure decent jobs or earn meaningful wages. In addition to the reported cases or rape during the evictions, many women forced to live on the streets without shelter become vulnerable to rape, sexual and physical abuse and prostitution. In addition to the physical and psychological pain caused by this abuse, such women then become stigmatised and socially excluded from their communities.

In response to this situation, in 2000 SERAC carried out a project, supported by WACC, to empower women in the four major slum communities of Maroko, Ijora Badiya, Rainbow Town; and Kado Village through education and training so as to strengthen their capacity to actively participate in the struggle for the resettlement of their communities. Although women in slum communities are disproportionately affected by the practice of forced evictions, they remain marginalized and discriminated against in the processes established for the provision of resettlement and other forms of remedy. The lack of information and knowledge of their human rights and the absence of a platform for collective analysis and action strengthens the cycle of social, economic and political exclusion of women in slum communities.

After conducting an initial study into the nature and extent of the impact of forced eviction on women, SERAC focused on educating and training women in the four evicted communities on their rights. SERAC also promoted inter-community visits which allowed the more experienced women of Maroko to share their experiences with the community of Ijora Badiya. This led to the foundation of The Good Women Association of Ijora Badiya so that, like in Maroko, women in Badiya are now effectively represented and participate actively in larger community processes. Through relentless campaigning and community action, SERAC has also forced the Lagos State Government to officially accept full responsibility for resettling the over 3000,000 Maroko residents evicted from their homes more than a decade ago.

Building on this initial work, last year SERAC carried out a follow-up project with support from WACC which focused on combating tforced eviction-linked violence against women. The project aimed to raise awareness of ongoing gender-specific human rights abuses perpetrated against forcibly evicted women at the policy, legal and administrative levels and to provide legal support to the survivors of such violence, along with counselling and rights-based conflict resolution training so as to better equip them with the skills required to protect themselves during and after the forced eviction process.

SERAC organised a one-day workshop in each of the evicted communities which introduced participants to international and regional norms proscribing violence against women. After each workshop, SERAC convened a town hall meeting which facilitated consultation and networking among Lagos, Rainbow Town and Abuja evictees and allowed representatives from the three communities to develop common strategies for eradicating violence against evicted women.

Despite the inauguration of an elected civilian government, the military legacy of arbitrariness and non-disclosure of official information has continued to inform governance processes in Nigeria. Yet with the ongoing work of organisations like SERAC, there is now hope that some of the country’s most marginalised people are not only aware of their rights but also able to collectively act on them to ensure that their communities and those who live within them remain safe and secure.