The World celebrated an other International Women’s Day (IWD) recently and it has been usual for the past couple of years when global attention was focused on women. Women’s rights and issues have dominated the news, especially within the context of world reckoning on sexual misconduct against women not just in educational institutions but in almost all the industries.
But even as we mark this new vista in tackling sexual harassment against women and the possibility of the world becoming more sensitive to the cries and agonies of victims, there is still more to be done especially with regard to closest spaces such as educational institutions where massive sexual harassment goes on without attention with figures showing that women’s dignity and education are critically threatened by recurring sexual misconduct across the schools.
Within a span of few months, a university teacher was convicted of sexually harassing a post graduate female student by demanding many rounds of sex and using such incidence in exchange for good grades at the famous Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State.
Afterwards, sentenced to prison terms at the University of Lagos was another senior lecturer and a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ of a renowned Church and was suspended after he was exposed in a 13- minute video, documentary released by the BBC Africa Eye, where he was making advances towards an undercover reporter who disguised as a student seeking for admission into the school.
Similarly, at the university of Abuja, a lecturer was recently dismissed after the report of a panel set up to investigate allegations revealed that the lecturer and a professor for that matter, had really demanded sex from a female undergraduate in exchange for good scores.
Sadly, it would have seemed as if no lesson has been learnt with all these exposures as female students continue to be subjected to horrendous sexual predations by the lecturers and all those who hold power within the educational institutions and other industries, knowing fully well that there is nothing in place to actually check them as those exposed are only unfortunate to have suffered such accidental exposure.
The case is that no female is immune from the threat of sexual misconduct and molestation in the schools as lecturers operate with impunity defiling these young students and sending many of them into depression and a life time of mental agony.
To be certain, over the past years we have been regaled with tales of big time sexual assault scandals from the Nigerian campuses to have felt that these are common place incidents.
Yet, we know that these headlines only scratch at the extent and depth of the crisis as it is notoriously tough to gather data on the prevalence of sexual misconduct in Nigerian schools with most assaults underreported or unreported. However, the most common estimate is that about one in six female students of tertiary institutions remained the victim of a sexual assault during her years of studies, an estimate backed up by survey from the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women.
And showing that the crisis of sexual harassment in higher institutions is essentially a female problem, estimates on male victims of sexual assault are more variable, but they range from about one in twenty students, telling us that while anybody could experience that it is clear from the data that the female student on the campuses experience these negative behaviours at disproportionately higher rate than the males.
The implications of this is that we must start to see and approach the issues of sexual assault in schools as part of the larger exploitation problem of the females in the society.
We must put in place the environment in schools that would empower the female students and others within the system who set great store by what is right to be able to monitor and report every case of sexual misconduct.
The key therefore is to work towards the emergence of an environment in which the female students know that the system is out to protect and defend them against predators. When they have this support, it would not be difficult for them to stand against unwanted sexual advances from the male. Building and having in place such kind of environment could be made part of the requirements for accreditation of higher institutions by the various accrediting bodies.
This way, we would be integrating the healthy functioning of the female students into the running of the institutions and this will go a long way in showing that the society values it is female members and wants them to be free from sexual assault as well as putting in place a positive environment for the female students knowing the place of by-standers, victims and alleged perpetrators within the complex web of the school environment. Competent responses by security personnel, administrators, other students and staff will involve treating all parties with respect and due process, holding perpetrators accountable and ensuring that students who have been victimised, have the safety and support they need to stay in school in order to finish their studies.
In this context, all higher institutions in the country must be required as a matter of fact to work towards a culture of zero tolerance for sexual harassment with each institution being rated on the extent to which it is sticking to and publicising it is efforts in that regard.
As we join in the extended celebration of women as part of the International Women’s Day (IWD) 2022, we must use the opportunity to reflect on how far we are from achieving gender equality in an atmosphere of rampant sexual harassment of women, especially on the campuses. As women march to the National Assembly to register their presence, they should be able to send firm and clear message that all kinds of sexual misconduct and assault are not desirable and acceptable in the society and citadels of learning. That will be one way of showing that stakeholders are ready to rid the institutions and the entire society of the gross menace of sexual harassment that has become a veritable threat to girl child education and the worthy presence of women in Nigeria.
Hence, we ought to aggressively curb the excesses of sexual misconduct plaguing the nation’s Ivory Towers.
It should be included in the Nigerian constitution that severe punishment awaits any offender when it comes to sexual harassment in schools whether on male or female citizen.
When any offender is punished, it will serve as deterrent to others who may be nursing such action.

By:  Theresa Frederick