By Chidi Anselm Odinkalu
Published: November 26,2012
Violence
against women is a dreadfully brutal and pervasive crime. In many
countries, those who are responsible for preventing, eliminating and
ensuring accountability for it mostly fail to recognize it as such,
tolerate it or simply blame the victims for being violated. On the 31st
Anniversary of the International Day of Action on Violence against
Women – 25 November – law enforcement and public officers in Nigeria
must commit to a programme of action to change this.
On
Friday, 23 November 2012, I attended a workshop of the International
Association of Women Judges at the conference room of the High Court of
Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory in Abuja. The theme of the
conference was “Sextortion”. Its aim was to call attention to the
various forms of sexual exploitation that women suffer in the public
space and inspire a committed search for how the judiciary and the legal
process take action to diminish and ultimately eliminate this.
Present
at the workshop were senior judges of all the Superior Courts in
Nigeria, including High Courts, the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court as
well as some international judicial experts. The conference showcased
the progress that women have made in Nigeria’s legal profession as well
as the considerable amount of work that is still needed to eliminate
historical discrimination against women in the legal profession and the
wider country.
The
afternoon panel discussion featured three presentations respectively by
a Nigerian judge, a Tanzanian judge and this writer explaining the
concept of sextortion, illustrating its various dimensions and offering
suggestions as to how to address it. The session was moderated by a
recently retired Justice of the Nigerian Supreme Court.
In
response to the panel ‘s presentations, Katsina State Attorney-General,
Alhaji Ibrahim Dan-Soho, who was also present at the meeting, offered a
spirited defence of “men” and a shocking plea for tolerance of the
levels of gratuitous sexual violence in our country. During the course
of this prolonged allocutus, the Honorable Attorney-General asserted
that “rape is self-inflicted….in at least 90% of cases.”
Three
different participants at the meeting, including this writer, publicly
pointed out to the Honorable Attorney-General the egregious baselessness
of his claim, the obvious insensitivity of it and the clearly adverse
implications for victims of rape and other sexual violence in Katsina
State, and requested him to withdraw it. He failed to acknowledge this
request.
Rape
is a vile crime of violence against mostly – but not necessarily or
exclusively – women. It grossly violates the physical integrity and
dignity of its victims, causes serious damage to public and reproductive
health, and injures social cohesion. It is, therefore, evidently
outrageous for anyone to say or suggest that such a crime is
self-inflicted or to blame the crime on its victims.
Every
criminal justice system has a basic obligation not just to recognize
rape and similar sexual violence as the vile crime that it is but also
to ensure that it is effectively punished. Even in situations of
conflict, rape is now well established as a war crime. Victims of such
crimes are entitled to expect the state to treat the crime of rape
seriously and to provide the necessary care and support to enable them
survive its lingering and most damaging consequences.
Victims
or survivors of rape in Katsina State, for instance, have no hope of
such support, care, remedies or accountability if or where the Chief Law
Officer of the territory takes the view that a crime of this
seriousness is self-inflicted. This attitude further victimizes
survivors of sexual violence and violates the political and legal
obligation on government to protect its entire people equally by
providing effective remedies for such crimes.
This
is why most victims will suffer in silence rather than report rape. It
is also why the attitude reflected in the statement by Attorney-General
Dan-Soho is a danger to public safety and security. Any Chief Law
Officer that harbours this view has a duty to re-consider his position
as such because this is fundamentally incompatible with the functions
and primary responsibilities of the Attorney-General.
It
is worth recalling that since 1981, November 25 has been commemorated
globally as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence
against Women. In December 1999, the United Nations General Assembly
adopted Resolution 54/134 formally recognizing this day as such. The
International Day is instituted in memory of the sacrifice of the
Mirabal Sisters – Patria Mercedes, Maria Argentina Minerva, and Antonia
Maria Teresa – persecuted and ultimately assassinated by suspected
agents of the regime of Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic on 25
November, 1961.
The
globally recognized 16 Days of Activism on Violence against Women also
begins this week. In recognition of the multiple dimensions of sexual
and other forms of violence against women, the 16 Days of Activism
include the International Day of Action on Violence against Women and
World HIV/AIDS Day on December 1, and ends with the International Human
Rights Day on 10 December.
On
this beginning of 16 Days of Activism on Violence against Women, law
officers and leaders – like Attorney-General Dan-Soho – must do more and
take clear action to address the multi-dimensional problem of violence
against women.
A
proper investigation and documentation of the prevalence of sexual
violence is needed. Inter-agency capability to ensure accountability for
it should be established and health ministries must be involved in the
design and roll-out of trauma care initiatives for survivors. Above all,
reform of rape laws is needed to reassure victims, enhance reporting of
such crimes, recognize that rape happens to both sexes and make it less
difficult to hold perpetrators accountable. By dealing firmly with this
form of violence in which the perpetrators can often be identified, the
country will demonstrate readiness to confront other forms of wholesale
violence, such as crimes of terror.
Odinkalu chairs the Council of the National Human Rights Commission
Source: http://premiumtimesng.com/opinion/108607-katsina-attorney-general-and-his-warped-dangerous-logic-on-rape-by-chidi-anselm-odinkalu.html
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