Preventing Sexual Violence

Today, Nigeria joins the rest of the world to celebrate the International Day for Sexual Violence. This is against the backdrop of upsurge in sex related crimes on the African Continent and Nigeria in particular.
The United Nations (UN) General Assembly  dedicates June 19 every year, since 2008, to raise awareness towards the elimination of sexual violence, especially in areas of conflict and strife.
However, in Nigeria, as in many other African countries, sexual violence had since exceeded the confines of violence and strife situations. It is now prevalent in all strata of society, be it home, office or educational institutions.
Underscoring the aptness of this year’s theme of the celebration which is “Preventing Sexual Violence Crimes Through Justice and Deterrence”, the UN Secretary-General, Anthonio Guteress said violence has become endemic, citing rape, abduction, human trafficking, sexual slavery, forced marriage, among others, as examples.
The Tide believes Guteress couldn’t have captured the prevalence and spread of sexual violence in Nigeria more aptly, as it manifests in various forms from the North to the Southern parts of the country.
We recall the 2014 abduction of 279 school girls in the Northern Community of Chibok in Borno State by the Boko Haram insurgents who turned the girls into sex slaves. This horrific incident disorientated the academic pursuits and destinies of these innocent girls, some of whom were impregnated,  forced into  marriages and in some cases, infected with the Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV).
The stigma of these terrible experiences  is better imagined than experienced.
While the nation is yet to fully recover from the sad Chibok girls saga as many of the girls remain unaccounted for, Fulani herdsmen have become unrelenting in their armed invasion of communities during which they sexually harass and violate women and girls, thus indicating the enormity of sexual violence in the North.
The southern part of the country has its own bitter story to tell, as human trafficking, kidnapping and cultism have become the obvious manifestations of sexual violence, particularly against women and children.
Worried by the rising cases of violence against women, the African Women Lawyers Association of Nigeria (AWLAN) vowed to ensure a society free from abuse, discrimination and indignity of women and children.
At the inauguration of the Rivers State Chapter of the association in Port Harcourt, AWLAN said it would be uncompromising in the protection of women and children against harmful societal and cultural practices.
Similarly, the African Women in Power (AWP) at a roundtable in Lagos, two months ago, called for stricter enforcement of extant laws against sexual violence, stressing that emphasis should now be diverted from victims to perpetrators who should be arrested and brought to justice.
As the world again brings the issue of sexual violence to the fore, today, we urge women groups to go beyond individual efforts in their campaigns against what is indeed an enormous global challenge. It is now imperative that women groups across the country should work together in order to enhance the right of women and stop the various abuses on them and their children.
Government may not have put in place all the relevant statutes to check sexual violence, but it has in place laws and structures which can curtail, if not eradicate sexual and other forms of abuses on women. It is, therefore, important that citizens take up the challenge of exposing perpetrators of sexual violence to enable government bring them to justice.
Government must not, however, fail in prosecuting perpetrators of sexual violence.At the same time, it should improve on service delivery for victims, as well as protect women and girls who seek refugee status. The recent scandal in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States where women and girls in the camp were forced to exchange sex for food with officials who are saddled with the responsibility to protect them and promote their welfare, must stop.
Relevant stakeholders and Non-Governmental Organisation like FIDA, AWP and AWLAN should embark on sex education in schools, as well as sensitise the populace on the need to report sexual violence and abuse to the Police or appropriate bodies like the Doctors without Borders which has an emergency response facility for sexual violence victims.
The world should today recommit itself and take practical actions to end sexual violence.