ENGENDERING INSECURITY IN NIGERIA: THE PARADOX OF WOMEN AS VICTIMS AND VILLAINS

Insecurity is pervasive in Nigeria and it affects everyone. This article based on desk information examines the unique security threats that affect women in Nigeria and how women promote insecurity and criminality. It reveals that women as victims or symbols of insecurity are disproportionately affected by security threats such as ritual practices, human trafficking, sexual violence and situations of conflicts and complex emergencies compared to men. It also shows that women have been the villains or swords for the promotion of insecurity and criminality such as terrorism, suicide bombing, kidnapping, and armed robbery. It argues that women are uniquely and disproportionately affected by these security threats compared to men due to socio-cultural discriminatory notions about women, the socially constructed notion about the parts of the body of women and women’s limited access to public goods. On the flipside, based due to the gender role been espoused in the Nigerian patriarchic culture or male hegemonic culture, women are more vulnerable or more likely to be used as villains or swords for the promotion of insecurity and criminality. Thus, the paper suggests the need to address these conditioning factors that make women disproportionately vulnerable as victims or symbols of security threats and the villains or swords for the promotion of insecurity and criminality.