New TV series focuses on violence against women

A new television series entitled, 'Trauma,' focusing on raising public awareness on domestic violence against women was launched in early April in Nigeria, one of the NGO's involved in the project told IRIN on Tuesday. The Programme Officer at Lagos-based Project Alert on Violence Against Women (PAVAW), Bridget Osakwe, said that the series aimed to deal with specific issues of violence against women including physical assault, male child preference and widowhood rites, within each of the five 30-minute episodes. The series was written and developed by PAVAW, while another Nigerian NGO, Women Optimum Development Foundation, provided technical support. The themes surrounding 'Trauma' were developed through field research, and writers' workshops, Osakwe said, adding that they were dramatised using very popular Nigerian actors and a well known film crew. Despite receiving some $56,505 last year from UNIFEM's Trust Fund in Support of Actions to Eliminate Violence Against Women', 'Trauma' still faces a shortfall. This has led to a cutting in numbers of programmes and a restriction on its reach to mass audiences throughout Nigeria. "The series was originally made up of 13 episodes, but that had to be reduced to five and another major problem is that we have not been able to put it on popular TV stations as they are too expensive," Osakwe said. Osakwe added that feedback received so far about the two programmes already screened had been positive and she hoped this would help further funding applications.