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I often engage in conversations about women’s rights with people, especially at the initial stages of forming a relationship with them. I found that it’s usually an enthralling discourse and a way to learn about people’s ideological perspectives.
One Wednesday evening in May 2023, I entertained some guests in my abode and began discussing women’s rights. Some guests argued that women are less intelligent than men and can be outsmarted easily by their male counterparts. They cited the example of a PSG football star, Achraf Hakimi, who outsmarted his wife Hiba Abouk by registering his properties in his mother’s name and leaving his wife with nothing after their divorce.
The month before, DUBAWA Ghana had fact-checked the viral story and found it false. However, the day of the conversation with my guests was one of the times I was grateful to work with a fact-checking organisation. I quickly shared DUBAWA’s fact-check on the subject with them. However, I also realised how gendered disinformation can be used to justify gender bias and inequality.
Gendered disinformation is a form of misogynistic abuse in which people use false or misleading gender and sex-based narratives to deter women from making informed decisions, thereby presenting them in a negative light or discouraging them from public participation.
This form of dangerous disinformation, which can impact women’s and girls’ lives negatively, is present not only in mainstream conversations but also in health and sports stories, amongst others.
For instance, some girls are currently excluded from the human papillomavirus vaccine (HBV) due to false narratives their parents believed.
The human papillomavirus, according to the United Nations, is the cause of at least 70% of cases of cervical cancer, the third most common cancer and the second most frequent cause of cancer death in women aged 15 to 44.
To combat the issue in Nigeria, the government introduced HPV into its routine immunisation drive to reach about seven million girls. The vaccination exercise is mainly targeted at girls aged 9 to 14 years.
However, one school administrator told DUBAWA how some pupils’ parents informed them not to give their children the injection because they heard it is “lethal.” Members of a Facebook group, “Once a mom, always a mum initiative,” also alleged that the vaccine could lead to infertility and that parents should not allow their children to have it. However, DUBAWA’s conversations with medical experts reveal that there is no correlation between the vaccine and death or infertility.
Similarly, women’s political participation in Nigeria is far below the global average, yet women are often victims of gendered disinformation when they run for political office.
A Paper presented by Ms Oloyede Oluyemi of the National Bureau of Statistics, Abuja, revealed that the national average of Nigerian women’s political participation is 6.7 per cent in elective and appointive positions, far below the Global Average of 22.5 per cent, Africa Regional Average of 23.4 per cent, and West African Sub Regional Average of 15 per cent.
However, when Princess Abiodun Oyefusi ran for office as the Labour Party’s deputy governorship candidate for Lagos State in 2023, she was accused of smoking hookah. DUBAWA, however, found that the image used to share the narrative was doctored.
Women hold half the sky
Over the years, women have had to prove they are valuable and inherently equal to their male partners. Yet, women are half the human population and contribute significantly to the nation’s economy.
The International Labour Organisation estimates that the value of unpaid care and domestic work is as much as 9 per cent of global GDP (USD 11 trillion), with women’s contribution pegged at around 6.6 per cent of GDP, spending about 16 billion hours per day on unpaid labour.
Also, African women have a high percentage of women entrepreneurs globally, with 25.9% of women starting or managing a business in sub-Saharan Africa.
In agriculture, women make up almost 50 per cent of the agricultural labour force in sub-Saharan Africa, an increase from about 45 per cent in 1980. The average in Africa ranges from just over 40 per cent in Southern Africa to just over 50 per cent in Eastern Africa.
Notwithstanding, as long as gendered disinformation persists, misogynistic narratives will flourish, harmful health practices will negatively affect women, and it will become more challenging for women to live up to their potential in society.
Join the fight against gendered disinformation
In its Sustainable Development Goal (5), the United Nations highlights that gender equality is a fundamental human right and an essential foundation for a peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable world.
So, for International Women’s Day, join in highlighting the importance of gender equality and fighting against disinformation. Do not contribute to spreading gendered narratives that have the potential to mislead; instead, share DUBAWA’s fact-checks.
In addition, read these four fact checks relating to women and share them widely.
Demystifying the notion pap smear is only done for women with multiple sexual partners
A Pap smear, also called a Pap test or a Papanicolaou test, is a simple procedure done to check for cervical cancer or cell changes that may lead to cervical cancer. However, there have been narratives that the tests are only meant for promiscuous women. Learn more about the false rhetoric here.
Did women in Finland protest with bare breasts against monogamy?
There is a constant narrative that women in Finland protested with bare breasts against men who marry only one wife despite the soaring population. In truth, the women protested the hypersexualisation of their bodies while demanding the right to protect their bodies.
Adding salt to urine has no scientific basis to test for pregnancy
An Instagram user claimed that adding salt to urine can indicate if a woman is pregnant. However, no scientific data suggest that anything in a person’s urine reacts with salt to indicate pregnancy. Using at-home pregnancy tests, which are 99% accurate when used correctly, is a more effective method to detect pregnancy. Learn more here.
Expert says vaginal steaming unsafe for women
A Facebook user shared that boiling scent leaves and salt could be used to treat fibroids, vaginal odour, and menstrual pains. However, there is no scientific evidence to back up the claim. Gynaecologists also do not support vaginal steaming. Read the expert-based fact check here.
