 Break the bias. The first thought that occurred to me was what bias are we breaking? What is it like for women in Africa and indeed Nigeria? Today, I choose to talk about bias in different forms, from personal to political to deeply ingrained mindsets. Interesting that I personally think that the greatest bias against women may come from other women, and why is that the case? Maybe generations of cultural conditioning? It may seem. According to a Guardian article published in March 2020, an analysis of 75 countries reveals shocking scale of global women's rights backlash, indicating that 9 out of 10 people were found to be biased against women. That is, almost 90% of people are biased against women. So, despite progress in closing the equality gap, 91% of men and 86% of women hold at least one bias against women in relation to politics, economics, education, violence or reproductive rights. So it seems biases instead of shrinking are growing back. We still live in a male-dominated world where people still think men are more superior political leaders, make better business executives, and almost a third of men and women think it's acceptable for a man to be his wife. There are signs of big progress in more basic areas of empowerment and participation, things like financial empowerment as Comfort has said and other things have seen, but brick walls with regards to more empowering areas still stand solidly. In breaking the bias, we cannot pick and choose. We can't say these human rights are for women and these ones are not. It's time to break the bias towards hardcore areas of power, political power, economic power, reproductive power, whatever kind of power that exists in the world. How do women achieve economic empowerment when society still believes that it's a matter of privilege for a man who fathers a child with her to help her with child care? Society still believes a man's job and financial impute is more relevant than a woman's own and so a woman's time should be prioritized towards her children and it's her main and almost sole responsibility to create a support system if she wants to change her dreams and raise children. Cooking food for a family is still regarded as a woman's task and we still hear comments like, feed him or someone else will, really. When care and affection is still based on the physical acts of your sacrifice for the body as opposed to real engagement between partners, the bias is still on. Even from childhood, the bias exists from toys and toys for girls are pretty dolls where we are prepped for looking a certain way and conditioned for looking that way for the purpose of pleasing the opposite gender. While boy toys are made to show risk-taking, strength, courage and a care-free-ness that girls don't have. So you have the guys getting the cars and girls getting dolls. A boy can go topless. However, it's scandalizing when a girl goes topless. Again, what's the reason? How the male gender reacts? On the flip side, women are also choosing to exploit the bias. Look good for him, be his Barbie and extract the cost from him. To my gender, I say, let's stop dumping down sometimes in distasteful ways to get the man or secure the bag as we say if you dump down to get it, you end up fishwiping forever to keep the bag. So which way forward? Break the bias, develop the female child to realize that she has a human capacity to be economically empowered, create, allow and systemically enable the girl child and even grown women achieve their full economic capacity in the way that they choose. And now something that breaks my heart. Women have been dealt a major blow once again by the House of Reps who have rejected the bill for special seats for women in parliament while also rejecting a bill for an act to alter the provisions of the 1999 Constitution to provide for affirmative action for women in political party administration. So this conversation on gender bias is deep. It's long and it's hard. However, I say, now is a good time to call for us to break the bias against women by women themselves. Thank you. Before I let Justin even focus on the reproductive bias because I asked one thing I felt like it's really annoying the fact that like Comfort mentioned during her session you can only get pregnant by one man but a guy can actually impregnate multiple women. So why then is the woman, why then does woman have the responsibility to what's ensuring that she doesn't get pregnant? Because she will be left to look after the child so she had better make sure. So that's just generally it. That's just the problem because it's a bias. So you have just more female contraceptives against male contraceptives and you know over time contraceptives have had effects on women's lives. I know someone that the contraceptive has literally almost costed her life and she's still even at a point now that she's getting into menopause she's having to actually face the repercussion of those contraceptives. So what I'm saying is that women actually there's a lot to be done. So why can't we you know begin to channel our energy to ensuring that women in general are not left to the burden of having to ensure that you know in terms of a production that the ones that is responsible for ensuring that they don't get pregnant. Let's be both ways. You see if I'm going to ensure say what I would want to say is that if you have now said I should ensure that I don't get pregnant then I determine the number of children that we have. I determine what exactly goes on as to how the reproduction comes up. But you will not tell me to be the one to determine I should be the one that has to take resources for how I don't get pregnant and then you choose what happens to me. It's just unfair. That's unfair. And so really maybe the question is women should begin to stand and say why am I allowing this? That's it. I think you know we have put ourselves in this place where we have become enablers. Enablers of bad behavior. Enablers of everything that is going on because I dare say that no one can do anything to you unless you permit it. Yes. So we have constantly permitted this again I call it bad behavior and I mean why everyone will take an advantage of someone who allows them to just be. So I'm thinking of you know what we've been saying and I'm thinking yes a woman you think for instance if your parents are ill everybody expects that it's the daughter who is going to look after the parents. Nobody is thinking oh this man had five sons and one daughter let these five sons they just automatically going to say that it's the woman. I'm thinking of a situation where my husband looks after the kids and everyone is thinking he's such a good man. Such a good man. He's so lucky. I use every day and I'm not getting any medals. No one is complimenting me. No one is saying you're doing a good job. And yet I'm expected to go to work and bring home part of the bacon because now we all know that I mean it's difficult to have a single income family. So I'm putting in my share and then at work I'm expected to work like someone who doesn't have kids. And at home I'm expected to be like someone who doesn't have a job. Exactly. And this is this woman that we're seeing is weak. How? Cannot do this. Really how? And yet even like I was saying even the serpent in the Bible recognized the power and the influence that the woman has. Exactly. We have all this in mind. So in breaking the bias for me I think we should not turn on ourselves and I like the way you try to end it like that. So we make you know it's our responsibility. So in this case for me breaking the bias is the prejudices that women have against themselves. Yes. All that we have said, the people who become custodians of them are women. And you come to the bad cultural practices. If you look at it down the line who are the custodians and who are the implementers of those cultural practices that harm women. Who are those that make excuses for the bad behavior that is going on. You still lost women. Yes. I think more women, I think more women call themselves prostitutes than actually men. True. Literally they are more at par. We are the ones. I mean for example there was this young pretty lady that came out recently to run for house of crepes. You needed to hear the disparaging remarks that women are making about her. Come on, is she going there for beauty contest? Oh, she's going there. They don't go to go and finish her. I mean that goes where this lady has come out that she's beautiful and she doesn't have clothes. Yes. But instead of going there for this young pretty girl has gone and I hope she has sense. Let's even engage her, let's see. It was women who were bringing out the sexual part of it. They go to go and finish her house. So they bring in the bias or break the bias for me here. It's the bias that we have against each other. The places where we reinforce the bad behavior. The places where we sit down and we go sit instead of correcting. And I'll just calm down and sit down. I understand me. I understand you coming down. Oh, honestly I think that as women we have a lot to do with our mindset. We have a lot. We need to get to a place where we actually stop looking at each other as competition. We need to start looking at a place where we can actually be collaborative. Absolutely. And we need to also accept that you know what so this woman may be better than me. And what is it that she needs from me? It's because men actually seek competition. But they play into their advantage. I think it's time for women to start applying the logical strategic side of their brain. Which exists in how they relate with women and with men. Honestly, that's the only way that truly we can say we're breaking this bias. And we're not standing in our own way. We're literally like obstacles to ourselves. And it's important that if we're going to make any tangible strides. Any particular thing. Like if we're going to make any progress at all. Because I was sure when it was found that Hillary Clinton literally didn't win. I mean women actually were somewhat put away against her. No, I did not vote for her. And so you didn't really think of those things. And when women see other women that look good. That are actually really put together. There's that anger. I'm sorry if I look good and you're angry. Accept yourself or go and work on yourself. It's not anyone's fault. Ask me for tips. No, go and do this. And then when I look good, you may be better in something else. So it's not women. I didn't know that we still keep thinking about it. And it comes down to the fact that it's men. What I look good for is men. I'm making a fact that okay, so you look good and men are going to appreciate you. And they're not going to appreciate me. And so men have put it in our heads that oh, I'm the bag. I'm the two. I'm the price. I'm the price. And so you're competing for their affection. For their approval. For their affirmation. So they do that divide and rule. And I'm like, really, there was a particular movie I watched recently. And it wasn't like, it was one of our stories. Someone said, is it called Nollywood? I said no, it wasn't Nollywood. It was one of these other countries. And this man had married to the first wife for 19 years. He had a second family. And he had married her for nine years in a different city. So he would be with shuttle weekends. So Thursday he would go to the other woman, the one that night. And then one day they found out. So the first wife was a typical woman. She was crying. Then I said, why are you crying? No, we're born victims. And you know what we're going to do? We are going to collaborate and we're going to do with him together. Oh my goodness. Those men, they dealt with that man. He got to the point where he actually owned up, apologised to them. They went and said, you know, and they picked up their lives. And they said, we're going to, they left, they both left him. He could not find himself back. So women don't realise the power that they hold emotionally and physically over the minds and the lives of men. If they realise the tool in their hands, they won't allow themselves to be toyed left, right and centre. That's why men are afraid of women. And if we give them opportunities, this men have a hold. So use it well. Use it strategically. Use it to create a world where you can actually achieve your goals. Exactly. As opposed to fighting each other. Yes. I think when we realise that, I mean just the popular saying of, there's strength in unity. There's strength in aligning with what is right. And we find out that just like the colonial masters did when they wanted to merge and, or when they wanted to conquer and enslave Africa, they used that rule of divide and conquer. And as long as we allow this pettiness, because women, we can be petty, as long as we allow this petty issues to create a wedge between us and divide us, then we'll find out that there's really little that we can accomplish. So what I hear everyone say is that we need to just unify. So which one of you is running, which one of you is running for political office? I'm not running, but I can support, I can push. I'm not running yet, but I'm not running yet. Okay, yet. Yes. And I don't think that we necessarily all have to run. I think that, like we said earlier, in your own silo, in your own little space, take ownership, take leadership. And when we know that it's a holistic thing, you're winning where you are. You're winning where you are. We're all winning in our little spares. Then we will all win together. All win together. That's the truth. Don't worry if you're running, I can be part of your communication campaign team. I'm here to support any woman who wants to do it. Trust me, I'm there for you. And who knows, maybe I might run one day soon. And we'll be there to check you out. Thank you, people. Okay. Imagine a gender equal world, a world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. A world that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. Together, we can forge women's equality. Collectively, we can all break the bias. 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