Actress and filmmaker, Mercy Aigbe, is of the opinion that
marriage is overrated. The entrepreneur, who got separated from her husband,
Lanre Gentry, in 2018, amidst allegations of domestic violence, said mothers
usually brought up women to take whatever their partners did to them, all
because they wanted to stay married.
Aigbe stated this while recounting her marital experience on
her YouTube channel. She said, “Our mothers brought us up, as women, to take
whatever our partners do to us. They tell us to take it because we want to
remain in a man’s house. To me, it is not an achievement. Let’s just say as it
is– marriage is overrated. It takes two people to make it work; it’s not just
about the women. But, everybody keeps heaping all the responsibilities on the
woman. That shouldn’t be.”
Describing how she was assaulted, Aigbe said, “The first
time the slap came, it felt like I was dreaming. I wasn’t expecting it and I
was shocked beyond words. I didn’t know it was going to happen but it happened.
The begging would then come after that. Once a man raises his hand to hit you,
he is going to do it over and again.
“The incident that broke the camel’s back was the one where
I almost died. The beating was horrible. People often say actresses don’t want
to remain married. Who told them that? (You think) being a celebrity doesn’t
make me human? Does (being a celebrity) mean I don’t want to have a happy home?
They say actresses are promiscuous but promiscuity is not (the exclusive
preserve of) any profession. When mine (break-up) happened, it wasn’t easy
because I am a celebrity. I read a lot of things online. Some people even said
I made it up. But, nobody can dictate to me how to live my life.”
The actress also noted that religion doesn’t encourage women
to speak up when they are assaulted by their husbands. She added, “I have been
through domestic violence and I came out strong. I would love to see the end of
domestic violence in society. It wasn’t easy for me because society always shames
one. Everybody believes if one is experiencing domestic violence, one has to be
patient as a woman and take it all to remain in one’s husband’s house. A lot of
people have lost their lives as a result of domestic violence. And religion is
not helping. An assaulted woman could go to her pastor and the cleric would
say, ‘Oh madam, you need to keep praying’. Is it until she loses her life?”
The actress has also released a movie titled, Victims, which
has domestic violence as its theme.
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