From unrequited love and cheating husbands to domestic violence and marital rape, a Nigerian agony aunt is using Instagram to encourage women to share their stories anonymously.
Ziya'atulhaqq Usman Tahir receives thousands of comments and likes each day on the photo-sharing app from women in Nigeria's mostly Muslim north, where publicly discussing relationship troubles or family issues outside the home is discouraged.
Her Instagram page, which boasts more than 27,000 followers and features some 500 anonymous posts, in English and the local language Hausa, allows other users to offer advice and support.
"It is hard for women to speak about their problems in public, but it is time that we start opening up - we have a voice and we shouldn't bottle it up," the 27-year-old, known as Fatibolady on Instagram, said in an interview over Twitter.
Tahir started offering advice in 2014 after a friend came to her with a relationship issue which she shared on Instagram, a report from the Thomson Reuters Foundation said.
An "overwhelming" response and countless comments of support encouraged others to start sending their stories, she said.
Several of Tahir's followers have volunteered to be mentors to those who post their problems, while the agony aunt has also enlisted psychologists, journalists and lawyers to offer specialist advice in more complicated circumstances.
Many posts on Tahir's page feature doubts and fears about boyfriends and husbands who do not have a job or enough money, and tales of those who have lied, cheated or fled.
But some of the contributions concern cases of domestic violence and rape, and Tahir said the anonymous nature of the page had empowered more victims to speak out and seek support.
Her advisers and followers encourage victims to go to the police and pursue justice, and at least one case is in court after a woman was badly beaten by her husband, Tahir said.
Tahir plans to start a blog and dreams of having her own talk show to reach more people, with the help of her friends and family.
