The Consent Workshop Religion and Misogynistic Doctrines

Religion and Misogynistic Doctrines

Cynthia Mbala

There is no doubt that religion plays a very crucial role in the perpetuity of rape culture in modern society.  In predominantly orthodox Muslim countries, we see this in the inability of women to access certain privileges without permission or consent of a male relative being either husbands or fathers. In a lot of cultures, women are second-class citizens, not able to inherit lands, not able to access education outside of traditional gender-based education,and prevented from expressing individuality. To a sexist society, being a woman is an insufficiency. Don’t believe me? Here are three instances of doctrine taught by mainstream religion and how they perpetuate misogyny. Let’s start from “the beginning.” Woman… Read More

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The Consent Workshop Everything I Have Learnt From Feminists Online

Everything I Have Learnt From Feminists Online

Cynthia MbalaNo Comments

Paragraph Stephanie C Odili is a feminist writer and author, whose work focuses on writing, speaking and advocating for gender equality, education, nation building, climate change and productive living. She has written over 200 articles and is now a top writer in feminism on Medium. Womanhood surrounds what can be offered and controlled. In our world, womanhood is the absence of personhood. – Ashley A Cummings. I want to start by saying that I am deeply sorry for not attributing each of these lessons to individual people. I have been collecting these notes for about a year and lost track of who said what. But most importantly, I have grown… Read More

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The Consent Workshop Religion and Rape Culture

Religion and Rape Culture

Cynthia Mbala

Consent is a voluntary affirmative response required before engaging in any physical and/or sexual activity. As simple as this is, it’s unfortunate that the idea of consent is disregarded, rejected and even frowned upon in many parts of the world. Religion has also played a huge role is the violation of consent where it concerns women. As a result, many women and girls have been subjected to inhumane treatment and stripped of their autonomy – their rights over their bodies and lives. For such a regressive postulation to have existed for thousands of years, various belief systems were put in place in different societies to ensure that it continues to thrive… Read More

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The Consent Workshop TCW Art Exhibition 2019

TCW Art Exhibition 2019

Cynthia MbalaNo Comments

It was a success! On Saturday, May 25th, 10 months after our pilot workshop, The Consent Workshop had its first art exhibition. A gathering of talented diaspora artists who explored the themes of rape culture, policing bodies and black identity in their work. Artists included Ugonna, Bahatii, Nelson, Morenike, Tamar and Deji. Facilitated by Mary Asekome of the Canadian Federation of Students and Funmi Taiwo of ThriveM, our art exhibition had an engaged audience of over 150 gathered and eager to learn about consent. The workshop included a host of activities and discussions that dissected rape culture, attitudes and body shaming. It was a perfect space for necessary learning.  Included… Read More

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The Consent Workshop #EndWarOnNigerianWomen

#EndWarOnNigerianWomen

Cynthia MbalaNo Comments

The Consent Workshop in partnership with sister organizations, is launching a campaign to protest the harassment of women looking to make informed decisions about their reproductive health, and organizations that offer these services.#EndWarOnNigerianWomen On Tuesday, May 21st, Police officers raided a Marie Stopes Clinic in Lagos, harassed the health workers and patients and took away confidential client information. Marie Stopes offers free and affordable family planning services to women and men, pregnancy tests, pre and post-natal care, treatment and services for sexually transmitted infections (STI), HIV testing and ultrasound and laboratory services. They have trained staff who offer counselling and treatment especially to those who cannot afford the costs at… Read More

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