Being a woman in Nigeria today comes with a constant awareness of risk. Every step outside comes with careful calculations, like which streets feel safe, who is around, and how to make it back home without trouble. 

This awareness is rooted in data and lived experience. Globally, as many as one in three women will experience physical or sexual violence in her lifetime, whether from a partner or someone else, according to the World Health Organization. That is a startling scale of risk, felt in homes, streets, workplaces and public spaces alike.

In Nigeria, the situation mirrors a broader pattern of gender‑based harm. About one in five women aged 15 to 49 have experienced physical or sexual violence, according to recent surveys.

And when real events make their way into public conversation, they bring that risk into sharp relief. In Delta State earlier this week, videos and accounts from the Ozoro festival showed women being stripped and sexually assaulted during a community event. The images spread quickly online and sparked nationwide outrage, prompting officials at both state and federal levels to vow that justice would follow such assaults.

Everyday vigilance

It is in the small, everyday moments that vigilance becomes second nature. Choosing what to wear, avoiding certain streets after dark, declining invitations to events that feel unsafe, these are decisions made, often without anyone else noticing. Even online spaces are not exempt. 

In Lagos earlier this year, a content creator known as Fems Thrift shared how she and a friend were lured to what was described as a modelling shoot, only to be trapped and sexually assaulted by the man who invited them. The suspect had offered payment for the job and asked them to bring their phones, then allegedly threatened them with a knife, forced them to undress, and seized their devices, threatening to publish private photos if they went to the police. The incident sent shockwaves across social media and raised fresh concerns about the safety of young women responding to online job offers and unverified opportunities.

Society’s contradictions

Some women internalise this awareness into other parts of their lives, even careers. Take Tems, the Grammy‑winning Afrobeats artist. In interviews, she has spoken about the way she intentionally wore baggy clothes in the early stages of her career when going to studio sessions, partly to avoid unwanted attention from producers and focus on her craft. Tems said she wanted the focus to stay on her music and not on her appearance, especially as a young woman surrounded by people she did not know well.

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Her choice was not fashion-motivated, but about navigating an industry that, like society at large, often scrutinises and sexualises women before recognising their talent. It was a strategy to protect her creative space and assert her professionalism

Resilience in awareness

Women learn to read signals and trust instincts. This vigilance is survival, a way of asserting autonomy even when society does not guarantee safety.

Every cautious step and small decision shows the perseverance of the Nigerian women. They step out, travel, work, study, and live, refusing to let fear dictate their lives, even as they remain mindful of the dangers around them.

Living with the reality

Being a woman in Nigeria today is a balancing act. Because it is freedom with limits, and being courageous, with caution. And yet, despite the risks and daily calculations, women persist.

But perhaps one day, the streets will feel safe without calculation, the workplace will be free of fear, and the world will allow women to move through it fully, without always looking over their shoulders. Until then, every careful step is also a step toward that future.

Anita Chinedu