Rape and gender-based violence in Nigeria have assumed a larger than life magnitude with the media awash with reports of new incidents affecting women, boys and girls as well as infants, even as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to take its toll on Nigeria and other countries of the world. CHIZOBA OGBECHE looks at the trend, why it thrives as well as measures to end it.
Rape and gender-based violence have continued to attract global attention with governments and non-governmental organisations leading advocacy for lasting solutions.
A study commissioned by Nigeria’s Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Social Development and the United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA) Nigeria, with support from the Norwegian Government, indicated that 28 per cent of Nigerian women aged 25-29 have experienced some form of physical violence since age 15. The study also reported that 15 per cent of women experienced physical violence within 12 months, while 25 per cent of married women or those living with their spouses have experienced violence.
However, the situation appears to have taken a turn for the worse with the coronavirus pandemic as reports of rape and other domestic violence have been on the increase. The situation has been compounded by the pandemic and the stay-at-home order by the federal and state governments to avoid the spread of the virus.
Activists are of the opinion that this is a direct consequence of the restrictions which forced vulnerable persons to stay more closely to their attackers. Conversely, a Benue state-based anti-rape campaigner, Dr. Sam Abah, said, “There is really no spike in sex-related crimes amidst the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown. What you are seeing is what we call ‘trending.’
“There is a spike in media attention. There is a spike in community attention. But as you have seen, there is no spike in security response. Nothing much has been done specially about sex-related crimes from the authorities at the federal, state, local governments, community, religious, educational or non-governmental sector.”
Link between lockdown, VAWG
In the same vein, the United Nations (UN) has also raised the alarm on the increase in reported cases of domestic and Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), directly attributed to forced proximity occasioned by lockdowns.
The UN Women in publication on April 10, 2020, titled, “Covid-19 and the link to Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG),” stated that, “The implications for survivors of violence against women and girls (VAWG) are immense. Many women and girls will remain trapped at home with their abusers as the state is placed under mandatory lockdown.
“There are growing concerns that the lockdown will lead to an increase in rape and other forms of sexual violence as survivors remain in close proximity with perpetrators over a prolonged period of time.
“The recorded cases show an increase in the level of reporting as it concerns survivors of sexual violence. It is also possible to infer linkage between children being out of school due to the enforced lockdown and the increase in reported cases.”
Confirming this assertion, the director of Lagos-based Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre, Abiola Akiode-Afolabi, said since the lockdown started there had been an increase in common gender-based violence reports recorded by her organisation, including spousal violence, landlord-tenant violence, neighbour-to-neighbour violence, and parent-children abuse.
Others, according to her, are home-owner-house help violence, boyfriend-girlfriend violence, violence on widows, police-sex worker violence, police-citizen violence, visitor-caught-in-lock-down child rape.
Similarly, the Lagos state Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT) said the team had been inundated with increased reports of sexual and domestic violence since the lockdown started late March.
According to Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi, who leads the team set up to carry out physical interventions, at the peak of the lockdown in Lagos, the group on average received 13 new cases daily. The team, he said, received 390 reports in March alone.
Why it thrives
Gender inequality is a factor in the issue of VAWG. An Abuja-based human rights and constitutional lawyer, Barrister Chukwu Emmanuel Madujibe, said the traditional and populist view that women cannot share the same opportunities and privileges accorded to men has been eroded by implication of the preamble to the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
“Sadly, men severally infringe on these rights by averting their minds to the belief that women are piece of chattels and own their places in kitchens, farms, and as tools for sexual gratification, exploitation, slavery and trafficking without considering these rights,” he said.
He decried the fact that notwithstanding the constitutional provisions only few cases struggle their ways for determination before the courts on the issue of gender inequality.
“The reason is not far-fetched: it is largely as a result of ignorance of the law by victims of gender victimisation and the social insecurity of persons who approach these courts for justice.”
Similarly, the Initiative for Women’s Accelerated Development in Africa (INWOAD) said stigmatisation and ineffective investigation fuel the increasing incidents of rape and killing of women and girls.
INWOAD President Ms Evelyn Onyilo in an interview with Blueprint Weekend said sex-related crimes were taking a new dimension and all hands must be on deck to bring the trend to an end.
She said, “We must enforce the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act (VAPP) 2015 to protect our women and girls from evil people. High incidence of sexual abuse and gender-based violence is a pointer that the seemingly strong are devising ways to lord it over weaker persons and these must be checked by way of swift, efficient and effective response to crime by law enforcement agencies.”
Onyilo encouraged victims and their families to speak out against sex crimes being increasingly perpetrated against women, girls and children due to a culture of silence and the fear of stigmatisation and ineffective investigation.
On his part, Dr. Abah said, “The difficulty in capturing hard evidence to the specification of the law is a big issue since sex offence has to be proved beyond reasonable doubt and in most cases medical reports are needed.
“Also, the red hot fear of stigmatisation for life pushes families and victims to shut up. A young girl that gets famous because of a big rape investigation is afraid that no man will marry her. So families and victims calculate and balance the odds.
“Having a safe and fulfilled married life and career in future is also factored into the decision-making process. Parents should tell their children that rape is not the end of life. They should tell their daughters that out of every 100 mature women out who are doing well almost 20 of them were raped before age of 25 years.
“They should tell them that even women in the House of Assembly were raped while they were in the secondary school or university. So, rape in itself is not a death sentence. With this kind of quiet family considerations, many cases that should be reported and forcefully followed up are swept under the carpet.”
Legislation
Madujibe said Nigeria is a signatory to international instruments which outlaws all forms of ill treatment meted out on women including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR); Declaration on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women; Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women; Convention on Consent to Marriage; Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration for Marriage; Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic on Persons and of the exploitation of the Prostitution of others; among others.
“Interestingly, most of these international laws have been domesticated by our laws. It is settled that the application of international laws in Nigerian courts curry persuasive effects. However, they set a standard on how women’s rights should be accorded respect and recognition by members of the opposite sex,” he said.
While stating that the Child Rights Act was only applicable to states that have domesticated the Act as their laws, he said where a person has carnal knowledge of a child, with or without her consent, is guilty of the offence of rape.
“This Act captures all the other genres of sexual offences under the offence of rape and if this piece of legislation should have the full force of law throughout the country, then the issue of sexual offences would have been dealt with.”
Again, Abah said, “There are enough laws regarding sex crimes and even if you add 20 more laws it won’t make a difference if victims do not speak out and victims who speak out are victimised and stigmatised.
“Also, poor families are generally afraid of reporting because of a myriad of difficulties and absence of protection. The police are very angry when rape is reported and the offender is a big man, a thug, a cultist, a friend, their family member or a religious/traditional figure.”
Why rape suspects are set free by courts
Speaking further, Madujibe, who decried the fact that many rape cases are not prosecuted or pursued to logical conclusions, noted that, “The maximum sentence for rape is life imprisonment. However, rapists tend to be set free by the courts; due to the rudiments or ingredients of rape, which the prosecutor must prove beyond reasonable doubt to establish proof of rape against the prosecutrix.
“Nevertheless, the issue of rape is predicated upon the penetration of a woman’s vagina without her consent. In circumstances where consent was alleged to have been obtained from the prosecutrix by the accused person, and she alleges that it was fraudulently obtained, either by force, threat, intimidation or misrepresentation, such consent will not suffice as consent and thus will qualify as rape.
“It should be noted that only a woman is capable of being raped in Nigeria, except in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja; where lesbians can commit the offence of rape through the use of phoney penis or toys to penetrate the vagina of another woman without her consent. In the same light, homosexuals can be charged for penetrating the anus of a man without his consent.”
According to him, “Sections 375 and 358 of the Criminal Code provides that, for an offence of rape to be committed, there must be penetration of the woman or girl’s vagina without her consent, or where consent was obtained by force, threat, intimidation, fraud or impersonating the husband of a married woman.
“However, this Criminal Code is only applicable in the southern states of Nigeria. It therefore follows that a man cannot complain of being raped in the southern states as only women are capable of being raped.
“I agree that penetration of the anus in the southern states is also on the rise or prevalent, but it cannot be said to amount to rape; no matter the amount of force applied by the accused person in penetrating the anus. Anal penetration is another offence of its own which is, distinct from rape offences.
“In the southern states, it is equally worthy of note that, where an underage girl, imbecile or person with unsound mind and who cannot give consent is raped, the proper charge the accused or defendant is usually charged with is rape/defilement. Nevertheless, the Penal Code applies only in northern Nigeria. In this clime, a man cannot also be said to rape his wife. As such, spousal rape is exempted from the offence of rape.”
Outcry against rape
Worried by the recent rise in the sexual violence amidst the Covid-19 pandemic some Nigerians led by the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) recently took to the streets to protest against sexual violence in some major cities including Lagos and Abuja.
The demonstrators, who were bearing banners with inscriptions like: “Justice for all Nigerian girls and women” and “No means no;” chanted slogans to call attention to the issue and urged politicians to allocate more funds to tackle sexual violence and ensure police independence.
The latest outpouring of anger followed the rape and murder of three women and girls in incidents activists said showcased the widespread sexual violence in Nigeria.
Death penalty?
Speaking on the recent incidents, the president of Association of Women Orientation For Sustainable Development in Nigeria (AWON), Chief Grace Oluwatoye, urged the Oyo state government to enforce death penalty as punishment for perpetrators of sexual violence against women and girls in the state.
Oluwatoye, while addressing a press conference in Ibadan by Coalition of Women Networks and NGOs, declared that sexual violence against women and girls was on the increase and it was time for government to come up with decisive action towards ending it.
“We call on government to hold perpetrators accountable and to ensure that victims are able to seek legal redress and get justice. We call for death penalty as the punishment for perpetrators of this terrible act,” she said.
Speaking further she said, “We are deeply touched and worried that there has been low response or non conviction of rape cases and other gender based violence cases in the state and we want Oyo state government to come up with a decisive action on this.
“We implore government to create a platform and support CBOs to provide ongoing education on gender-based violence prevention for state-owned media houses. To work towards ensuring that every citizen is free to exercise their human rights.”
Way forward
The Proactive Gender Initiative (PGI) called on President Muhammadu Buhari to set up a judicial commission of enquiry into the increasing cases of sexual harassment and other sex crimes in the country.
PGI’s national coordinator, Barrister Esther Uzoma, while speaking with this reporter, said, “It has become urgent and imperative that the president, Muhammadu Buhari, set up a judicial commission of inquiry into the increasing cases of sexual and gender based violence especially rape and incest to find a way out of this monstrosity.
“As a gender-based organisation, we are near-saturated by the number of defilements by supposed fathers, uncles, brothers and male relatives and friends of minors, and grown-ups by those that ought to protect them.
“A judicial commission would look at the existing laws, address the lacunas, if any, and make recommendations to strengthen the fight against sexual and gender based violence.”
She added: “It is regrettable that years after, most states are yet to domesticate either the VAPP and or Child Rights Act. But it is more germane if the Acts are enforced by states that have domesticated them. Today, some states have the Sex Offenders Register, others need to follow suit so that those who commit these crimes face the full weight of the law and live in the infamy of their crimes,” she stated.
On the way forward, Abah said the media and movies have not done enough work to minimise police collusion and societal stigmatisation. The laws left as they are without stout support from authority figures will not go further than where we are now.
“You can imagine how many thousands of young workers that are sexually molested and raped by their employers and supervisors at work. Jobs are so scarce that you prefer to be raped than to be jobless. The university campus sex for marks saga shows that girls even volunteer to be sexually abused if only that will guarantee their graduation with good grades. So there are many survival angles to the matter which the body of laws cannot automatically handle.
“The Nigerian society has a lot of work to do to back the laws up with a better enabling environment. The poor and hungry in Nigeria are too poor and endangered to be perfectly concerned about seeking justice either for themselves or for their young ones. What can a poor family say when a rich rapist offers N500, 000 as compensation for raping a 16-year-old student?
“It is not enough to arrest and prosecute a family head or an uncle who is the main support of the entire family. The social welfare agencies must find ways of giving economic support to families that are torn apart by this kind of sex related disaster. Just as we have IDPs camps, we have disaster management agencies Nigeria needs social disaster management.
“With the rising rate of reported cases of violation of minors by their blood relations, it is clear that the role of social workers in troubled homes must be increased. We need more psychologists, counsellors, skills and micro business advisers and trauma mitigation specialists to work along with families that get involved in this kind of horrible shameful nightmare.”
