The Violation of Women’s Human Rights — Transformative Processes in Julie Okoh’s and Stella ‘Dia Oyedepo’s No Gender

Abstract

The limitations on and violations of women’s human rights have dominated dramatic discourse in Nigeria for decades now and Nigerian female dramatists have become established as activists for the rights of women in text and context. This essay sets out to demonstrate that Julie Okoh’s Edewede and Stella ‘Dia Oyedepo’s Brain Has No Gender are serious treatises on women’s rights. The two plays highlight social and cultural rights abuses such as female circumcision, forced marriage, refusal to educate the girl child, and preference for male children, and how these violations of basic rights inhibit women from realizing their full potential as human beings. Exploring the issues articulated in these two plays reveals that women’s human rights in Nigerian society are most often denied or violated on the grounds of culture and tradition; hence, both playwrights focus their attention on redressing cultural and social rights. The texts illustrate that the medium of drama is an effective tool in campaigning against the violation of women’s human rights and fostering social transformation. They also suggest methods by which these transformations can be achieved.