BusinessDay 22 Oct 2017

Sunday 22 October 2017
C002D5556
SUNDAY
BD
39
Women’sWorld
It’s time to make streets safer for women
MABEL DIMMA
How do you feel as
a female, when a
male walks up to
you in the dark of
the night requesting
to talk to you against your
will, and follows you as you
briskly walk to shake him off?
Most times, such actions throws
the victim into a state of panic
and fear; not knowing what the
man may do next. Sometimes,
the scenario is different, but
the feeling of intimidation is
the same.
While shopping in major
markets in the different cities
in Nigeria, like Balogun Market
in Lagos Island; ladies are often
jeered at, insulted, catcalled or
pulled against their will, and
manhandled, in the name of
seeking patronage by the male
traders and all the ladies usually
do is to hurry away. Any retort
she makes to her harasser is
met with strings of insults and
abuse. She has no choice than to
fight off the unwarranted attack
and go home, because of course,
in Nigeria, to be touched, held,
fondled or catcalled by a male
stranger is not an offence.
So, it is not surprising that Lagos
is in the news again and this
10 fitness facts you need to know
CHINWE OBINWANNE
The decision to live a
healthy and fit lifestyle
is one that is put to the
test every single day. To win,
you have to keep remembering
why you are doing
it. Whether or not you’ve
decided to make fitness a lifestyle,
here are some facts that
can give you greater insight
into fitness.
Walking is great for your
heart: Your heart is not only
meant for love, it is meant to
keep you alive. As little as the
heart is, an unexpected attack
on it can mean the collapse of
the entire body, so caring for
your heart keeps you in great
health. One way to do that
is by brisk walking; studies
have suggested that walking
at a brisk pace for three
or more hours a week can
reduce your risk of coronary
heart disease by 65percent.
Now isn’t that a reason to
start walking?
Don’t be sedentary: About
25percent of women are
sedentary- a major cause of
obesity. After age 44, about
30percent of women are sedentary,
and by age 65, the proportion
increases to almost
35percent. By the time they
reach age 75, about 50percent
of all women are sedentary.
Regular exercise: Did you
time as the 8th Most
Dangerous Megacity
for Women in a report,
which has Thompson
Reuters Foundation as
its source.
The manner of harassment
and intimidation
of girls and women
is not peculiar to Nigeria,
but while Nigeria
is docile about protecting
its citizens, other
countries are working
to ensure through legislation
that their streets become safer
for their citizens.
For instance, in just the last
decade, several cities and countries,
including Belgium and
know that only about 25percent
of Nigerian adults engage
in regular, sustained
physical activity for at least
30 minutes five times a week?
Even more, only about 15percent
exercise both regularly
and vigorously. Where do
you fall in? Don’t forget that
small time spent exercising
is better than no time spent
exercising.
Age and fitness: No matter
your age and fitness level, as
long as your doctor has certified
you fit, you can begin
an exercise routine. Even a
90-year-old woman can start
exercising because exercise
benefits all regardless of age
or gender.
Daily exercise: Simply adding
movement into your daily
routine can increase your
level of fitness. For example,
if you park in the last row
of the parking lot and walk
briskly five minutes each
way to your destination and
back to your car, walk up and
down the stairs at your office
during your 10-minute lunch
or coffee break.
Also do a 10-minute workout
session when you get
home, you’ve gotten an accumulated
30 minutes of exercise
for that day. This means
that you really don’t have to
sweat it out for a straight 30
minutes to one hour to really
Peru, passed laws to criminalize
street harassment because, according
to reports, international
groups like Hollaback! And UN
Women have raised awareness
of its prevalence and harms.
The matter of women harassment
in public places has once
again surfaced and this time in
France, with Marlene Schiappa,
France’s secretary for gender
equality under President Emmanuel
Macron, championing
the cause. She has a novel idea:
Public spaces should be safer
for women and girls and so, a
legislation that would criminalize
sexual harassment in
the streets.
Schiappa, who wants to
tackle these sexiest male attitudes
in public spaces headlong,
says the streets of Paris
can be intimidating, threatening,
and dangerous for women,
who deal with unwanted comments
and obscene gestures,
as well as, being followed and
sometimes even groped. Harassers,
she argues, should be
fined the French equivalent of
US$1,000 on the spot.
According to her, it is completely
necessary because at
the moment street harassment
is not defined in the law and
that the law is due to be voted
on next year.
About the difficulty of
drawing a line between harassment
and flirtation, Schiappa
says, “We know very
well at what point we start
ponents: your body’s ability
to use oxygen as a source of
energy, which translates into
cardiovascular fitness; muscular
strength and endurance;
flexibility; and body
composition.
Balanced exercise program:
To deal with all the
components of fitness, an
exercise program needs to
include aerobic exercise,
which is a continuous repetitive
movement of large
muscle groups that raises
feeling intimidated, unsafe or
harassed in the street.”
She cited examples such as
when a man invades a woman’s
personal space – “by talking
to you 10, 20 centimetres
from your face” – or follows
a woman for several blocks,
or “asks for your number 17
times”.
A cross-party taskforce
composed of five MPs have
been asked to work with police
and magistrates to come up
with a definition of harassment
that can be enforced by
officers in the street.
Responding to the proposed
ban on social media, some respondents
said, “French policemen
are the worst harassers,
who think they could possibly
enforce that?” Again, that is
the sad story of many of their
Nigerian counterparts.
Meanwhile, reports have it
that the escalating scandal over
Hollywood producer Harvey
Weinstein’s alleged sexual assaults
on a string of actresses
has rekindled debate on sexual
harassment in France. Now that
France has brought this topic
back up, there is hope that other
countries in the world will be
equally outraged enough to do
the needful.
get your workout in.
Arthritis and movement:
Research shows that women
with heart disease or arthritis
actually experience
improved daily function
from involvement in various
modes of physical activity.
If you’ve been diagnosed
with arthritis, you need to
get moving. Staying active
will help ward off pain and
stiffness.
Fitness components: Fitness
consists of four comyour
heart rate; weight lifting
or strength training;
and flexibility exercises or
stretching.
Walking vs jogging:
Walking at a brisk pace (a
15-minute mile or 4 mph)
burns almost as many calories
as jogging for the same
distance. The benefit of jogging
is that it takes less time
to cover the same distance
and it benefits the bones;
however, it may be too strenuous
for some.
A brisk walk outdoors
or on a treadmill can burn
the same calories as jogging.
So don’t feel so guilty next
time you go for a road walk
with friends and they keep
jogging while you follow up
with a brisk walk.
Workout results: While
most of us expect miracles after
a few days of exercising,
it takes about 12 weeks after
starting an exercise program
to see measurable changes in
your body. However, before
12 weeks, you will notice an
increase in your strength and
endurance.
Obinwanne is the CEO of
NAIJAFITMOMS, an online
fitness and healthy outfit,
which specialises on encouraging
mothers to lead a
healthy eating lifestyle.