By Oluwanifemi Fawole

​In Ozoro, Delta State, the recent viral reports of a “Seven Day Raping Festival” have sent a tremor through the national conscience. For many, a festival is a period of communal bonding, a period when the society takes a pause from their daily lives to collectively remember who they are, where they came from, what they value and celebrate their rich legacy; however, for the women and girls of this region, it was heralded by a warning, a signal to retreat, to hide, and to surrender their freedom of movement. This is not merely a security lapse, it is a profound psychological siege.

​As we look at the harrowing footage and the subsequent outcry, we must confront a difficult truth. While the emotional and psychological toll on women is immense, the burden of fixing this systemic rot cannot and should not rest on the shoulders of women alone. To truly uproot the root causes mentioned in global forums like the EU Gender Action Plan (GAP), we must move beyond women-led advocacy and invite men to take their rightful seat at the table of reform.

​The Psychology of the Permitted Victim

​To live with the warning is to live in a state of permanent hyper-vigilance. In a region as Delta State where women are the primary fending force, providing for about 80% of their households, the irony is staggering. The very hands that feed the community are the ones now threatened, forced to live behind locked doors for seven days to avoid being violated by those who view them as vulnerable and sub-categories of humans.

​A premium disaster of social trust when a woman in Lagos is denied a home by a landlord because she is single, or when a girl somewhere in Kano is married off with government approval, has reinforced a singular dangerous narrative: that women are “prey” and men are “predators” by cultural right. This belief system we now suck in as normal has stifles our national progress.

​Shifting the Table: Men as Primary Stakeholders

​For too long, Gender-Based Violence (GBV) has been framed as a “women’s issue-a conversation for women, about women, by women.” This framing is a strategic error that often sees GBV advocacy discussions as too emotional. When men are deliberately brought to the core of these deliberations, we do not just add voices to the room, we harmonize the lived experience of women with the strategic influence of men as well as close the exit that has always allowed this conversation to be walked away from. 

​Men should not be at the table just to protect women; men must be at the table as strategic stakeholders who recognize that a society which devalues women is economically and morally bankrupt. We need men to bring their wisdom and influence to challenge locker room conversations in traditional councils. When a male leader declares that a tradition is no longer valid if it involves a crime, the narrative shifts from a complaint to a mandate.

​Educating the Boy Child: The Long Game

​The emotional toll on women will only cease when “The Warning” is abolished. This starts with the boy child. Their perspective and narrative must be changed from seeing women as weaklings to be shielded to seeing them as a formidable force. If a young boy grows up seeing his father and male mentors respect women as partners who deserved to be honored, the “rape festival” loses its voice. We need male advocates-fathers, uncles, teachers, community leaders, mentors, educators, public figures – to go into schools to teach that masculinity is defined by the capacity to respect, not the power to violate. This is how we move from treating symptoms to fixing the root. We have spent decades building rooms where women discuss what men do to women. It is time to build rooms where men discuss what men must do differently, and then hold each other accountable. 

​The HeForShe Mandate

​The UN Women’s HeForShe campaign is a global solidarity movement that calls upon men and boys to lead the charge for gender equality. As we mark the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration in 2026, the HeForShe mandate reminds us that the fight against GBV is a shared human responsibility. By standing in solidarity, men are not just supporting women, they are reclaiming their own humanity and building a safer, more prosperous world for their sisters, wives and daughters. 

​A Unified Future

​The venting and outcry we see today is factual, not just emotional. It is a demand for a society where a woman’s daily lifestyle is not a gamble but a right anchored in rich culture that values her. This should be made clear: “A table where only women talk about GBV is a table that is only half-full.”

​We need the voices of men not as defensive bystanders, but as active architects of a new culture. Until we see the safety of the girl child in Ozoro as a test of the Nigerian man’s honor, we are JUST joking around with progress. It is time for men and women to stand together, not just to fix women’s issues, but to rebuild a nation that is safe for everyone.

Oluwanifemi Olaitan Fawole, a digital educator, educational consultant, and SDG advocate focused on expanding equitable access to learning.