Feminists shower Hauwa with love amidst Nigerian men cyberbully

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Popular screenwriter, digital content writer, and content creator Hauwa Lawal has been showered with love amidst intense cyberbullying meted out by Nigerian men. The cyber attack started on Nov. 11, 2024, on X after Hauwa posted a tweet stating that she had been mispronouncing artiste Rema’s album “HEIS.” 

Following the tweet, DND (@fergieishi) set a body shaming assault in motion by quoting his engagement on Hauwa’s post with a TikTok video of Houwa and the caption, “I’m not even hating.”

DND’s post garnered over 7.3k likes, 1k retweets, and 5m views with comments of hate speech by Nigerian men targeted at Hauwa.

“See her neck, for God’s sake, someone, please feed her,” @danchosblown449 commented. 

Another man, @bb_khames, said, “No front, No back, No face, No sense, No character, No shape, No dress, Zero everything. Ugly black rat. Drag the werey for me.” 

@bb_khames hate speech garnered over 752 likes, 864 retweets, and 898k views.

Nigerian men cyberbullying women who had been identified as feminists is a recurring trend on X.  Ayra Starr, Hauwa, Uloma, and many others have been victims of this digital violence. Recently, Nigerian males infiltrated feminist groups and misrepresented their chat on X, leading to the women’s rights advocates being doxxed, threatened and bullied.

“There is a pattern to this bullying, from Ayra Starr to Hauwa. These are popular women who are vocal about their feminism. But bully them all you want, they won’t stop being feminists…” @madamkeji tweeted. 

Similarly, @orethebrave stated, “I think there’s a direct relationship between Hauwa’s outspokenness on feminist issues and the vile she receives from men on this app. I’m saying it got worse when she started to speak up more.” 

However, amidst the cyber violence targeted at Hauwa, Nigerian women gathered to combat the bigotry with uplighting messages and inspiring words.

“You’re lying,” Tosin Olaseinde (@tosinolaseinde) replied, a bully. “Look at that elongated face with cute nose. She has striking regal features. How about her beautiful and shining dark skin? It’s okay to say you do not like her, but let’s not lie. She’s stunning. She also has a great sense of humour.”

Adaeze Nnaji (@adaezennaji_) also tweeted, “Hey Queen @Hauwa_L. You’re amazing, your contents are amazing and I love you. Keep your head up.” 

Tosin and Nnaji’s posts have over 1.7k likes and 1.2k likes, respectively.

Reacting to the edifying messages, many Nigerian women joined the trend, expressing sentiments about the initiative.

“The love Hauwa is getting is actually so inspiring to see. And so wholesome. @Hauwa_L, you’re a star, and we believe in your ministry like mad,” another user @adesolaaaaa tweeted.

However, Hauwa has since taken a break from social media.

According to research, cyberbullying can cause psychological, mental, emotional and physical effects on victims, including depression, anxiety, self-harm, and sleeping problems. Women also suffer disproportionately from cyber violence. A violation of women’s rights, the phenomenon is a misogynistic strategy by men to prevent women from participating online as well as in social, political, and cultural life.