The Trumpet Newspaper Issue 559 (December 1 - 14 2021)

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Page8 TheTrumpet DECEMBER 1 - 14 2021 News Nigeria’s endemic rape crisis Continued from Page 2< imposed to tackle the spread of Covid-19 in 2020, there was an upsurge in cases of rape. In June 2020, Nigerian police said they had recorded 717 incidents of rape between January and May last year. In April 2020, Nigeria’s Minister of Women Affairs Pauline Tallen said at least 3,600 cases of rape were recorded during the lockdown, while the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) received 11,200 reported cases of rape over the whole of 2020. As reports of rape escalated across Nigeria, State Governors declared a “state of emergency” on rape and gender-based violence in June 2020. They also promised to set up a sex offenders register. But over a year since their declaration, nothing has changed, as more cases of rape have been reported. One victim, Vera Uwaila Omosuwa, a 22-year-old microbiology student, was raped and brutally assaulted in 2020 in a church near her home in Benin, Edo state, and died a couple of days later from her injuries. Hamira, a fiveyear-old, was drugged and raped by her neighbour in April 2020. Her injuries were so bad she could no longer control her bladder. Barakat Bello, an 18-year-old student, was raped during a robbery in her home in Ibadan, Oyo State. She was butchered with machetes by her rapists and died on 1 June 2020. Favour Okechukwu, an 11- year-old girl, was gang-raped to death in Ejigbo, Lagos State. A 70- year-old woman was raped in Ogun State. In May 2021, a six-year-old girl was raped to death in Kaduna State. “The Covid-19 pandemic only exposed what has been going on for so long. Not only are women and girls being raped in Nigeria, but when they are brave enough to come forward they are being dismissed by police officers as liars and attention-seekers – slurs which inflict further injury,” said Osai Ojigho. Outdated laws and law enforcement failures Despite Nigeria’s international human rights obligation to enact, implement and monitor legislations addressing all forms of violence against women, women and girls continue to face discrimination in law and practice. The definition of rape under the Criminal Code, which is applicable in the southern part of Nigeria, and the Penal Code, which is applicable in northern Nigeria, are both outdated. The Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act expanded the scope and definition of rape but was silent on consent. “Notwithstanding expanding the legal scope of the definition of rape the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act and other laws have limited jurisdiction. Even in States where the Act and other laws have been domesticated, there has been no enforcement or implementation,” said Osai Ojigho. Survivors and NGOs interviewed for this research said stigma and Continued on Page 9
News Nigeria’s endemic rape crisis DECEMBER 1 - 14 2021 TheTrumpet Page9 Continued from Page 8< victim-blaming are key factors hindering the reporting of rape. Survivors shared distressing experiences of both, and told Amnesty International that they did not report due to fear of being disbelieved and blamed. Children, who are increasingly becoming targets of sexual violence, face particular challenges in reporting these crimes because of a lack of reporting process that is childfriendly. Some survivors said they were discouraged from seeking justice because of the toxic attitude of police officers towards genderbased violence, which manifested in humiliating lines of questioning and victim-blaming. In addition, decrepit police stations often lack the space for privacy that survivors need to make their statements. Onyinye, a 14-year-old, was raped by her neighbour when she was sent by her mother to help fix his phone. When Onyineye and her mother went to the police station to report the crime, not only did a female police officer slap the girl and pull her ear, Onyinye’s mother was also scolded for not giving her daughter a ‘good upbringing’. Activists and lawyers have decried the poor quality of police investigations into rape cases. In some cases, perpetrators bribe the police not to investigate their crimes. The police have also Sexual violence is a worldwide crisis and Nigeria is not exempt from it advised survivors and perpetrators to settle cases outside the scope of the criminal justice system, which only perpetuates violations of women’s human rights and impunity for rape. Time to act is now Amnesty International is calling on Nigerian authorities to act now to protect women and girls from rampant sexual violence. All reported cases of rape must be thoroughly, promptly, and impartially investigated and perpetrators must be prosecuted, and if convicted, sentenced with appropriate penalties. Existing discriminatory laws must be repealed and followed up with a concrete implementation and enforcement framework. Nigerian police must provide all necessary support to survivors and act in line with their code of conduct, by providing safe process of seeking justice for survivors to report rape and other gender-based violence and get justice. Courts must ensure that cases of sexual violence are fairly and promptly prosecuted. Any backlog in rape cases that may create unacceptable barriers for rape survivors’ access to justice must be addressed.
Page 1 and 2: TheTrumpet Africans now have a voic
Page 3 and 4: DECEMBER 1 - 14 2021 TheTrumpet Pag
Page 5 and 6: News DECEMBER 1 - 14 2021 TheTrumpe
Page 7: DECEMBER 1 - 14 2021 TheTrumpet Pag
Page 13 and 14: Health DECEMBER 1 - 14 2021 TheTrum

The Trumpet Newspaper Issue 559 (December 1 - 14 2021)

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?