+SenorRita Asks❓
Valentine’s Day
Love is in the air!
Valentine’s Day, with its love-filled origin, allows us to express affection to loved ones and share happy moments.
But men have been saddled with the responsibility to plan for the day. Of course, with planning comes paying for the sweet treats.
According to a poll by GeoPoll, 76.5% of people believe the responsibility to plan for 2024 Valentine’s Day falls on men. Only 23.5% believe the lady should plan it.
Whoever plans it, the unanswered question is: who is to pay for the expenses?
Anyway, here is how some people plan to spend their day.
A survey by Geopoll shows that 36% of lovers in Nigeria, Kenya, and Tanzania said they would spend time with their partners in the cinema, club, and restaurant while 19% said it’s a normal day for them and they have no special plan.
Meanwhile, 18.8% have plans to go out and merry with friends and family and 13.7% are to spend time indoors with their partners.
In the last category, 12.1% of the respondents plan a solo treat for themselves to celebrate this special day.
Most Nigerian respondents said they plan to spend between N9,000 and N45,000 for their loved ones.
Also, 27.98% of participants prefer spending less than N9,000, while 12.39% plan to spend between N45,000 and N90,000.
The poll surveyed 3,560 respondents in Nigeria, Tanzania, and Kenya. The sample size was composed of random app users between 18 and 60.
How are you spending your day?
Sexual Abuse
The love that women and girls receive in their communities often appears less of sweet love and leans more towards love bombs – the kind of love where a manipulative lover starts with sweet romance but ends up harming their partner.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics 2021 Men and Women Statistical Report in Nigeria, 64.8% of sexual violence cases experienced by married women are committed by their husbands or partner.
However, the highest rate of sexual violence against unmarried women is committed by strangers.
The high rate of sexual violence and other forms of bodily harm to women makes many ladies feel unsafe in lonely places or walking alone at night.
The 2023/2024 Women, Peace, and Security Index shows that only 52% of Nigerian women feel safe walking alone at night in the city where they live. This is a 23% increase from the 42% recorded in 2021/2022.
After the peak in 2017 and 2018, the percentage of women who feel safe when they are walking alone at night in the city where they live decreased from 56% to 48% in 2019/2020.
The percentage declined further in 2021/22 before it reached the latest high in 2023/2024.
Similarly, 69.6% of the female population lived within 50 kilometres of an armed conflict event at least once during 2021-2022.
Among other insecurity threats, this validates the danger to women’s safety in society.
The NBS Statistical Report on Women and Men in Nigeria shows that 31% of women aged 15 – 49 have experienced physical violence since age 15, a 12% increase from the 27.8% recorded in 2013.
The report states that violence prevents women from enjoying their fundamental human rights and freedom. In all societies, women and girls are vulnerable to physical, sexual, or psychological abuse that cuts across lines of income, class, and culture.
Women in STEM Week
This week is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, an event to celebrate the achievement and participation of women and girls in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
According to UNESCO, a significant gender gap has persisted over the years at all levels of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines all over the world.
Even though women have made tremendous progress towards increasing their participation in higher education, they are still under-represented in these fields.