On a warm December evening inside the French Embassy in Abuja, the closing of the global 16 Days of Activism felt less like an ending and more like a call to conscience.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Representing Ambassador Marc Fonbaustier,<\/strong> Deputy Ambassador Jean Francois Haspenue <\/strong>spoke with the urgency of someone who has watched harm migrate from streets to screens, and resisted its normalisation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
\u201cThe web has become a real arena of gender-based violence. It\u2019s not freedom of speech; it\u2019s an abuse meant to harm,\u201d <\/i>he said, naming threats, hate speech, and the non-consensual sharing of images as attacks that spill from virtual spaces into women\u2019s real lives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
This year\u2019s theme, \u201cUnite to end digital violence against all women and girls,\u201d <\/i>comes from the European Commission, but Haspenue<\/strong> made it clear the choice also reflects what frontline partners see daily: online harassment that multiplies in packs, devastates mental health, jeopardizes careers, and isolates women from public life.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
France\u2019s push is less about abstract advocacy and more about disrupting a pattern that has spread fast and silently through social media and messaging threads.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\u201cWe see you\u201d<\/i>: a message to abusers behind the screen<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
His words were direct, stripped of diplomatic vagueness, stating that, \u201cit\u2019s not because you believe you are anonymous that we don\u2019t see you. We are aware of your activities.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
He described a multi-faceted threat: psychological, professional, even physical, and insisted society must refuse to normalize the harm.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
The stance is both a warning and an invitation: accountability is coming, and the public has a role in demanding it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
The embassy and partners (civil society organizations, the UN, and fellow missions such as the EU and Canada) ran at least 20 activities across 14 states, involving 11 Nigerian partners.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Debates, trainings, school and community outreach, and cultural programming culminated in joint film screenings at the Institut Fran\u00e7ais.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
The crucial role of boys and men<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n
Haspenue insisted the movement cannot be \u201cwomen fighting for themselves,\u201d <\/i>but a community standing together.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
He invoked a French refrain, “educate your boys,”<\/i> as a simple, radical commitment: model responsible masculinity, teach respect, and understand that being a man carries obligations not to harm \u201cthe other side of humanity.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Asked about Nigeria\u2019s difficult road to justice for survivors, Haspenue acknowledged the reality and returned to the practical: advocacy, support systems, and concrete partner work that sustains survivors through the long arc of accountability.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\u201cNot only for the last 16 days. It\u2019s really 365 engagements all over the year,\u201d <\/i>he emphasized.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Feminist diplomacy, woven into every partnership<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n
France\u2019s broader relationship with Nigeria stretches across science, art, entrepreneurship, politics, development, and humanitarian work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Haspenue called it \u201cfeminist diplomacy,\u201d <\/i>not a siloed program, but a thread stitched through everything: make partners aware of what gender equality means for women\u2019s daily lives, and make that awareness a condition of serious collaboration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
As Haspenue<\/strong> put it, feminism in diplomacy means weaving gender equality into everything the mission does, from education and science to development and humanitarian work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
It\u2019s a simple, stubborn proposition, but it makes the world safer for women everywhere, whether online or off.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On a warm December evening inside the French Embassy in Abuja, the closing of the global 16 Days of Activism felt less like an ending and more like a call to conscience. Representing Ambassador Marc Fonbaustier, Deputy Ambassador Jean Francois Haspenue spoke with the urgency of someone who has watched harm migrate from streets to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":340338,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12025],"tags":[517,90574,824,164434,9633,516,6320,17970,23806,33427,16837],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-340337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-african-music","tag-boys","tag-confront","tag-digital","tag-educate","tag-france","tag-girls","tag-hidden","tag-nigeria","tag-rallies","tag-scars","tag-violence"],"yoast_head":"\n
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