Challenging a Culture of Silence: A Conversation with Dorothy Aken'Ova

Dorothy Aken'Ova at the INCRESE office in Minna.

>>Click here to read the full interview

>>Available in French, Portuguese and Spanish

A linguist by training, Dorothy Aken'Ova has taught at university, been a drug enforcement officer, and worked for the Women's Organization of Nigeria  for seven years. Not one to shy away from controversy, Dorothy formed the International Centre for Reproductive Health and Sexual Rights (INCRESE) in 2000 in Minna, Nigeria to confront local and national resistance to sexual and reproductive rights, and the lack of political will to address these issues. INCRESE advocates for the sexual health and rights of society's most disenfranchised groups, including youth, sexual minorities, survivors of sexual violence, commercial sex workers, and widowed women living with HIV/AIDS. Through education programs in its outreach center and advocacy throughout the community, INCRESE is promoting an understanding of sexual rights—and challenging the culture of silence around sexuality in a highly conservative environment.

In June 2006, Dorothy sat down with Beth Fredrick, IWHC's Executive Vice President, for a conversation about INCRESE's work. Click here to read Beth's blog about her trip to Nigeria, "Does the Breeze Kill HIV?".

Beth Fredrick, IWHC: When was INCRESE started and why did you think an organization working on sexual health and rights was needed in Nigeria?

Dorothy Aken'Ova: We realized that the only way forward was to unpack the terms "reproductive and sexual health and rights" and have sexual health and rights addressed as core components on their own. more>>


BF: What are some of the violations of sexual rights in Nigeria that play out and provide a context for the work of INCRESE?

DA: Absent or insufficient information on sexuality is a fundamental infringement on the sexual rights of people, because one of the key provisions of sexual rights is to have accurate information on sexuality and to have adequate information about services that are available to address sexual health needs. more>>

A group of children from the surrounding community.

BF: Nigeria is an extraordinarily diverse and large country, and I imagine it would be much easier to do your work in some parts of the country than others. You decided to establish INCRESE in Minna, in a Sharia'h state-can you talk a little about what that means, and how that exacerbates some of the rights violations and health issues that you were just describing?

DA: I thought that if INCRESE was located in Niger State then we would be able to facilitate some of the things to do with women's rights within the context of Sharia'h law, especially protecting them when their rights are being violated.  more>>

BF: Can you tell us one story of how Sharia'h law has had an impact on a woman's life or on the issues that INCRESE addresses?

DA: The case that jumps out is that of Fatima, who was sentenced to death by stoning by a Sharia'h court in Lambata for a sexual offense...There was a similar case in Katsina that had drawn a lot of global attention and chances were that this one would have fallen off the table if we didn't place it squarely on the agenda. more>>

BF: This kind of case touches on very personal and generally private issues, as does much of INCRESE's work. INCRESE does a lot more than just work on legal cases. You work across the board providing information to a number of different age groups and types of communities. How do you increase or expand the comfort zone in which these personal, private issues are discussed in such an environment?

DA: We have developed tools that facilitate dialogue...We also have ensured that the tools shock, because we think that shock therapy is necessary to wake people up so that they can begin to ask questions around these issues. more>>

The neighborhood in Minna where INCRESE's office is located.

BF: Now that you're six, almost seven years old as an organization, how do you feel INCRESE's approach has changed people's lives here in Niger State…in Nigeria, in the world?

DA: We have a community of sexual minorities who had for decades been in the closet and had formed social networks in some instances. What our presence in the Nigerian environment did…is to transform these social networks into political networks. more>>

BF: One thing that is very relevant to your work that can't be denied by anyone in Nigeria, by anyone in the world, is the spread of HIV/AIDS. How do you see the two as being connected-sexual rights and HIV/AIDS?

DA: We, at least in this context, know that HIV transmission is facilitated in our region, and in Nigeria as well, by behavior—especially sexual behavior—and that falls clearly within the realm of sexual rights discourse and sexual rights issues…We do believe that sexual pleasure is a critical component of sexual rights provisions and we believe that if sexual activities are not safe, then people's sexual rights are being compromised and that pleasure is remote. more>>

Participants in one of INCRESE's sexuality education programs.

BF: When I was here in 1997, there was a high level of denial that HIV was going to be a problem. Nigeria seemed to be a tinderbox and set to have an epidemic like many other parts of Africa. In the ensuing decade, HIV has in fact come to Nigeria in a very powerful way. Can you share your thoughts on the evolution of HIV in Nigeria and how your government and the world community dealt with it here?   
DA: These are the things that have created changes—more allocation and resources, more awareness, increased political will. They have all contributed to the shift from denial, especially by policymakers, and to action that we have now. more>>

BF: The world is waking up to the fact that women and girls are increasingly vulnerable and are becoming a larger part of new infections. How is the National Action Committee on HIV/AIDS addressing women? I know you are part of a group of women leaders in Nigeria who are influencing their thinking on how to prevent new infections. Can you talk a little bit about that process, some of the implications for women and girls here and what you see as part of the solution?

DA: The fact that the U.S. conditions—which emphasize an abstinence-only approach to prevention—are affecting programming in Nigeria has been a concern to feminist groups. This approach does not focus on primary prevention, which would reduce risk for women and girls whose low status makes them more vulnerable to HIV transmission. more>>

BF: You used the term primary prevention in talking about what was needed going forward, and I know primary prevention promotion is woven into all of INCRESE's work. Could you explain what some of the components of primary prevention are?  

DA: Primary prevention, for us, is, for one, providing comprehensive sexuality education to everyone so that they are able to make informed decisions on their sexuality...This would make women and girls capable of better negotiation as far as navigating their sexuality is concerned, and they won't have to sell sex to get a meal, give sex to be housed, give sex to pass exams, and all the other contexts where sexual exchanges take place for basic necessities of life. more>>

More children from the surrounding community.

BF: You have a reputation of being a brave dreamer in this field. What kind of world do you envision if we are actually able to embrace some of the things that INCRESE is promoting, if we are able to make some progress? I know that you certainly see that some progress has already been made, but what are some of your dreams for the future?

DA: I dream of a future where women and girls own their bodies. Where women and girls can have the last say on what is done with or to their bodies. I dream of a future where we are talking about sexual minorities not using the language of tolerance, but that of the right to be, to live, to experience, to express themselves as they are. more>>

>>Read more about IWHC's colleagues in Nigeria