The other week, I wrote a very brief explanation of the situation for some girls in our global community. Since then, there have been a few updates to give us hope for the safety of some of these girls.
Let’s start with the situation in Nigeria. A few weeks ago, it was announced by the Nigerian government that they had reached a truce with Boko Haram. Nigeria’s government has been in talks with a representative of Boko Haram, and the announcement was met with much excitement because it seemed to be a way to end the violence in Nigeria. The government said that Boko Haram had even agreed to release the girls they had kidnapped.
This is absolutely fantastic news for two reasons. First, an end to violence should always be celebrated. Second, these girls will get to go home! Time to celebrate, right?
Unfortunately not. It isn’t time to celebrate quite yet. Sadly there is much to be skeptical about in this deal. We all want to believe that the Nigerian government was able to strike a deal, but many Nigerians suspect the deal does not have any actual power because Boko Haram has already broken the truce and attacked more towns.
If that wasn’t bad enough, many Nigerians fear that the deal wasn’t even made with Boko Haram in the first place because Boko Haram has not yet spoken about the deal in their videos – their mode of communicating with the world. Oh, and something else that should be mentioned, elections are coming up in Nigeria. A deal that guarantees peace and return of young girls would definitely be a political boost, even if it doesn’t work out later.
We wholeheartedly would like to believe that these girls may soon come home, but it’s important to remember that right now these are just empty words. We’ve heard politicians make and break promises before, but this time the stakes are too high. Don’t forget about these girls because they’re still not back!
Alright, so that was the good news first. But now on to ISIS. The situation there is looking less hopeful as we are becoming more aware of the atrocities committed specifically against women by ISIS. The UN reported that thousands of Yazidis were massacred in Iraq by ISIS this summer, and that currently somewhere between 5000-7000 Yazidis women are being held by ISIS and sold into slavery.
In case you needed a reminder of how awful that would be, Kurdish protesters recreated slave markets in some popular London areas to scare us all into action. If you’d like to see, they filmed their protest and put it up online. Please be warned though – you may find it difficult to watch as it is designed to be as accurate as possible.
These protesters felt like some girls in the world were being ignored and they decided to remind us by bringing the act to us. What’s happening to these women is scarier than any Halloween ghost stories because it is real.
Knowledge can be power and it can help. You don’t have to go to Nigeria, Iraq, or Syria to make a difference. By talking about these girls we can keep them from being forgotten, and in doing so we remind our leaders that they still need to think about these girls. We are giving these girls support and keeping them in our global community. Keep bringing up these girls until we are sure they are home safe!