Girls and young women in north-east Nigeria suffered horrific abuses in Boko Haram captivity, with many survivors then arbitrarily detained and subsequently neglected by the Nigerian authorities. Now, these girls and young women are sending a clear message: they want to rebuild their lives.
For more than a decade, Boko Haram used these girls and young women as “wives”, forcibly marrying them, and subjecting them to years of domestic servitude and sexual violence, including forced pregnancy.
Amnesty International spoke with more than 80 survivors and launched the #EmpowerOurGirls campaign focused on the aspirations of these girls and young women. The campaign wants to break the cycle of invisibility and disempowerment, and help survivors claim back their future.
Demand support for girl survivors of boko haram
Join our call demanding Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu and the Nigerian government empower these girls and young women by ensuring their access to medical care, education, and livelihood support.
In June 2024, Amnesty International released a major report ‘Help us build our lives’: Girl survivors of Boko Haram and military abuses in north-east Nigeria documenting how girls survived trafficking and crimes against humanity by Boko Haram.
“I want to forget that I once lived with Boko Haram. I want to come out of this camp and start all over again”
EE, a survivor from Maiduguri, Borno State
In December 2024, Amnesty International travelled to the cities of Maiduguri and Abuja to work with local Amnesty International members to further develop the #EmpowerOurGirls campaign. We wanted to strengthen and expand the power of the grassroots activists, to amplify their voices, and make them the driving force for change.
The result of this collaboration is a new toolkit that’s designed to inspire people to take action and keep pressure on the Nigerian President Bola Tinubu to #EmpowerOurGirls.
Aimed at both activists and non-activists, the toolkit is full of ideas and resources to help you become a champion for girls’ rights in north-east Nigeria.
To find out more about the toolkit’s contents see the tabs below.
Amnesty International spoke with more than 80 survivors. They shared how they expected and requested government support, but instead felt invisible and neglected, with no access even to basic services, such as food, water and medical care.
The toolkit builds on a report launched by Amnesty in June 2024 which found that girls and young women survived trafficking as well as war crimes and crimes against humanity by Boko Haram including abduction, forced marriage, enslavement, and sexual violence. After leaving Boko Haram, many experienced prolonged, unlawful detention by the Nigerian military and other violations, including torture or other ill-treatment.
It features stories of survivors including GN: “I was with my family when Boko Haram arrived, demanding mothers to hand over their daughters. When they reached our house, my mother tried to protect me, and they replied, ‘If she won’t come, we’ll kill you.’ I was taken along with my older sister and her friends. Within days, the fighters arranged my wedding.”
The toolkit is full of ways you can get involved and help #EmpowerOurGirls