Rape is defined as the unlawful carnal knowledge of a person without his or her consent, or with consent, if the consent is obtained by force or by means of threat or intimidation of any kind, or by fear of harm or by means of false and fraudulent representation as to the nature of the act. When the term ‘carnal knowledge’ or ‘carnal connection’ is used in defining an offence, it is implied that the offence, so far as regards that element of it, is complete upon penetration.

  Therefore to prove that the offence of rape has been committed, there must have been a complete act of penetration. The offence of rape is similar to that of defilement. Defilement is, in simple terms, the unlawful carnal knowledge of minors. Statutory rape, on the other hand, is a situation where an adult has ‘consensual’ sexual intercourse with a person who has not attained the statutory age of consent.

The Covid -19 pandemic and the attendant lockdown order mandated individuals to stay home and most non-essential businesses to temporarily shut down. As earlier alluded to, there has been an increased incidence of rape and defilement during the lockdown and a number of reasons have been adduced for this state of affairs. For instance, ActionAid Nigeria reported that since the lockdown in March, 2020, it had recorded 253 cases of gender-based violence in Bauchi, Cross River, Enugu, Kebbi alone, which data only represents the number of reported cases and does not, therefore, include cases not reported.

The European Institute for Gender Equality has identified this phenomenon as a global problem and has stated that, although women and men experience the increased gender-based violence, women and girls have indeed, been worse hit. Consequently, the United Nations has sensitized countries across the globe regarding this development, which it attributes to forced proximity of people caused by the global lockdown.  Arguably, the inability of law enforcement agencies in Nigeria to devise effective strategies towards curtailing acts of violence amongst citizens has in turn resulted in the increase in cases of sexual violence which is evidenced in the nature and sheer brutality of the recently reported cases of rape and murder of girls and women, particularly in the month of May, 2020. It is pertinent to state here that even before Covid – 19 existed, sexual offences in Nigeria had been a matter of growing concern, however, it seemed to have taken a turn for the worse since the advent of the pandemic.

It is pertinent to state here, that the difficulty in prosecuting sexual offences in Nigeria has only worsened the rape pandemic as, in most cases, the perpetrators are allowed to walk free and emboldened to re-enact such despicable conduct on future unsuspecting victims.

Some of these challenges in prosecuting sexual offences range from the reluctance of victims to report such crimes, the existence of loopholes in the relevant criminal laws relating to sexual offences, ignorance of persons on the proper procedures and channels to follow when such offences occur, the inability to prove such cases successfully when instituted, and the seeming reluctance of judicial authorities to impose the full punishment prescribed by law on convicted offenders.

The reluctance of victims of sexual offences to report cases is a major factor that has compounded the prevalence of such offences. This factor could be traced to the popular notion that a victim must have committed some contributory act such as wearing clothes that exposed parts of their bodies, moving around late at night, visiting persons of the opposite sex alone etc, that made him/her susceptible to that crime.

 The mainstreaming of this societal belief system that entails blaming the victim rather than the perpetrator, is in this writer’s view, at the heart of fixing this social menace. It undermines the effectiveness of any proactive step taken to tackle the problem. The recent case of a mother beating up and blaming her 2-year-old daughter for getting raped and paying no attention to the rapist is a classic case in point. This discourages victims from speaking up as they reckon that their complaints would be treated with kid gloves by the Police.

Lacunas exist in our existing laws on sexual offences which militate against effectual prosecution of complaints. For instance, the offences of rape and defilement are not gender specific, however, the Criminal Act and Penal Code, the prominent laws on sexual offences in Nigeria, both recognize females as the only gender capable of being abused sexually. These provisions make penetration of the vagina an essential element in establishing rape and allied offences.

These provisions, in effect, automatically exclude from application cases of sexual abuse against males. The Criminal Code also regards a male below the age of 12 years as being incapable of having carnal knowledge. In the author’s considered view, this provision is completely flawed and does not take into account present day realities in which male children of lower ages have been reported to be involved in such acts. Where the law does not recognize an act as an offence, how then can a victim of same obtain justice and how can such perpetrators be brought to justice?

Medical Examination

Victims of rape and other acts of sexual violence are encouraged to undergo medical examination immediately after the act. A medical examination will involve a simple examination of the victim by a medical practitioner to confirm the fact that indeed there was penetration or other assault of any kind. This examination is usually followed by a medical report which will be tendered in court to prove the offence. This is important because it provides evidence that the victim had been abused and states in details the extent of the abuse. The provision of a medical report provides evidence that establishes one of the most essential ingredients of a sexual offence, which is the fact that sexual intercourse occurred. This evidence must be definitive in its description of the offence as the court may be reluctant to grant a conviction where a medical report is ambiguous or vague in details.

It is important to state here that the ability to produce a medical report does not in itself provide irrefutable proof of rape; as with other evidences, same must be proved beyond reasonable doubt before a court of law. The medical practitioner who prepared the report would be called upon to give evidence and be cross-examined on it. Where it is, however, proved to be genuine, the same would constitute good and credible evidence upon which the courts may convict, especially, when it fits into the timeline of events. The procurement of DNA evidence from the victim during medical examination in cases of rape and defilement can, however, create irrefutable evidence that the offence was, indeed, committed by a defendant where the DNA obtained from the victim is found to match that of the defendant.

Anyanwu is a student of Mass communication, Eastern Polytechnic, Port Harcourt.

To be continued in our next edition.

By: Anyanwu Glory