ISWSC Campaign to End Gender-Based Violence Results in New Legislation in Nigeria
On December 10, 2021, employees from Imo State Water and Sewage Corporation (ISWSC) gathered alongside hundreds of citizens at a busy traffic circle in Owerri, Nigeria. Standing in front of a mural of the state’s all-male governors, ISWSC demanded state action against gender-based violence (GBV), part of the company’s broader initiative to improve gender equality, in partnership with USAID’s Engendering Industries program.
ISWSC has partnered with USAID’s Engendering Industries program since 2020 in order to advance gender equality in strategic areas across the organization. Creating an environment where women can work without fear of sexual harassment or gender-based violence is a key component of ISWSC’s gender equality strategy. The utility also seeks to improve safety for its female customers, who are the primary collectors and users of water at the household level. Women are vulnerable to sexual violence and harassment while collecting water and domestic violence if they fail to procure sufficient water for household needs. This is part of a broader pattern of high rates of physical and sexual violence in the country and weak legal protections for victims.
In 2015, legislators in Abuja, the nation’s capital, sought to address the issue by passing the Violence Against People Prohibition (VAPP) Act, which defined and criminalized a broad range of GBV and created pathways for effective prosecution. Each state legislature needed to pass the bill for it to become a local law. While some states quickly promulgated the law, the bill failed twice in the Imo State legislature. When it finally passed in 2021, the governor did not sign it into law.
ISWSC responded by coordinating with the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Groups to generate demand for the governor to sign the bill. Working with a network of community stakeholders, ISWSC assembled the crowd in Owerri, where citizens spoke on the importance of passing the bill from dawn to dusk. The group held a candlelight vigil for victims of rape and ended the day by marching to the governor’s mansion to demand he endorse the bill.
The public demonstration worked. Five days later, ISWSC staff stood proudly next to the governor as he signed the bill into law. After the law became official, ISWSC sent teams of employees to rural areas, educating community members on GBV and ensuring citizens understand the nuances of the law and how it can protect them. By focusing on the broader enabling environment for equality, ISWSC is helping bend the arc towards gender equality at an organizational and regional level.
We are taking a big stand which you hardly see organizations in Nigeria doing,” said ISWSC's CEO, Engineer Emeka Celestine Ugoanyanwu, smiling broadly. “It is unique to do what we are doing, but even the men who were skeptical are beginning to see the issue of gender as something that concerns everybody.”
Alec Jacobson/USAID
Taking a Stand
ISWSC’s state campaign to pass the Violence Against People Prohibition Act is one of several public initiatives the company has used to advance gender equality both inside and outside the workplace. GBV has been a focal issue at ISWSC for the duration of the utility’s partnership with Engendering Industries. At the start of the partnership, the company lacked adequate workplace policies to create a safe and inclusive work environment for all employees. With Engendering Industries' support, the company developed new sexual harassment, GBV, and gender and social inclusion policies. Before launching the policies internally, the utility held staff trainings to raise awareness of GBV, socialize the need for new policies and procedures, and generate buy-in across the company.
“We are taking a big stand which you hardly see organizations in Nigeria doing,” said ISWSC's CEO, Engineer Emeka Celestine Ugoanyanwu, smiling broadly. “It is unique to do what we are doing, but even the men who were skeptical are beginning to see the issue of gender as something that concerns everybody.”
At the same time, ISWSC understood that GBV is an issue that impacts their customer base and the broader community across Imo State, where experiences of gender-based violence at public water sources and latrines are common. Seeing the value of GBV policies and protections at their company, ISWSC embarked on a campaign for all Imo State government agencies to adopt policies to prevent and mitigate sexual harassment and GBV. The company convened community stakeholders and presented their policies to representatives of the governor’s office, local government ministries, NGOs, and representatives of the local and national media.
ISWSC also took out a weekly radio spot to discuss the issue of GBV alongside other gender equality, water, and sanitation issues, including the importance of engaging men as allies for gender equality and how access to clean water and menstrual hygiene in schools helps girls continue their education. “We’re doing behavior change communication and we’ve been able to make a much larger impact,” Ugoanyanwu said.
ISWSC’s work to combat GBV, champion gender equality, improve community health, and promote women’s safety has differentiated them as a company that cares deeply about the communities that it serves and increased customer loyalty. The utility’s public initiatives have increased customer satisfaction and improved revenue, leading to steadily growing profits. The company has also brought gender balance to its seven-member executive team, increased the number of women enrolled in internships, and staffed technical teams with more women, including in the water testing lab and IT department.
“This campaign has impacted our reputation positively,” Ugoanyanwu said. “Most female engineers see [the water sector] as a male-dominated field, but, since we started working on the issue, they are starting to change their views.”
Alec Jacobson/USAID