"Violence
against women both violates and impairs or nullifies the enjoyment by women of
their human rights and fundamental freedoms... In all societies, to a greater
or lesser degree, women and girls are subjected to physical, sexual and
psychological abuse that cuts across lines of income, class and culture."
—Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action,
paragraph 112
Violence
can be defined as an exercise of physical force usually done with the intention
to hurt emotionally or physically, destroy and inflict injuries on the victim.
Anyone can be a victim of violence but for the purpose of this discussion, the
focus is on Violence against Women (VAW)
and a look at the ways the Nigerian authorities have responded. Unfortunately,
the statistics of such cases and the consequences of violence such as death or
permanent body impairments, in addition to the fact that violence against
anyone is an act of injustice to any human; has led to a wide interest and
advocacy for a reduction in these cases of violence and legislative punitive
measures to punish offenders.
According
to Heise (2004) Violence against women come in various stages in their lives,
- Prenatal Stage
- Prenatal sex selection, battering during pregnancy, coerced pregnancy.
- Infancy –
Female infanticide, emotional and physical abuse, differential access to
food and medical care.
- Childhood
– Genital cutting, incest and sexual abuse, differential access to food
and medical care.
- Adolescence-
Dating and courtship violence, economically coerced sex, sexual abuse in
the workplace, rape, sexual harassment, forced prostitution.
- Reproductive-
Abuse of women by intimate partners, marital rape, dowry abuse and
murders, partner homicide, psychological abuse, sexual abuse in the
workplace, sexual harassment , rape, abuse of women with disabilities.
- Old age-
Abuse of widows, elder abuse (which affects mostly women).
The issue of the advancement of women's
rights has concerned the United Nations since the Organization's founding. Yet
the alarming global dimensions of female-targeted violence were not explicitly
acknowledged by the international community until December 1993, when the
United Nations General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Elimination of
Violence against Women.
Prior
to this time, most Governments tended to regard violence against women largely
as a private matter between individuals, and not as a pervasive human rights
problem requiring State intervention. In view of the alarming growth in the
number of cases of violence against women throughout the world, the Commission
on Human Rights adopted resolution 1994/45 of 4 March 1994, in which it decided
to appoint the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, including its
causes and consequences. As a result of these steps, the problem of violence
against women has been drawing increasing political attention (http://www.un.org/rights/
, 2011).
One of several key international groups that have sought to
improve the rights of a woman is the Convention on Elimination of all forms of
Discrimination against Women – CEDAW. CEDAW provides a practical blueprint for each country to
achieve progress for women and girls. Providing opportunities for women and
girls to learn, earn and participate in public decision-making helps reduce
violence, alleviate poverty, build democracies and strengthen economies (http://www.cedaw2011.org).
The
Nigerian government ratification of Convention on Elimination of all forms of
Discrimination against Women in 1985 should have theoretically implied that it
is bound to fulfil all obligations stated in Article 2 -: States Parties
condemn discrimination against women in its forms, agree to pursue by all
appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating discrimination
against women and to this end,, undertake: a. to embody the principle of the equality of men and
women in their national constitutions or other appropriate legislation if not
yet incorporated therein and to ensure, through law and other appropriate
means, the practical realization of this principle; b. to adopt appropriate
legislative and other measures, including sanctions where appropriate,
prohibiting all discrimination against women; c. to establish legal protection
of the rights of women on an equal basis with men and to ensure through
competent national tribunals and other public institutions the effective
protection of women against any act of discrimination; d. to refrain from
engaging in any act or practice of discrimination against women and to ensure
that public authorities and institutions shall act in conformity with this
obligation; e. to take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against
women by any person, organization or enterprise; f. to take all appropriate
measures, including legislation, to modify or abolish existing laws,
regulations, customs and practices which constitute discrimination against
women. g to repeal all national penal provisions which constitute
discrimination against women.
Nonetheless, in practice this unfortunately is
not the case as CEDAW has raised the concern since 2008, that the Nigerian government
is not carrying out its obligations as required. By extension of this
abnormality, the weak state of women’s rights in Nigeria has been attributed to
the non – domestication of and non – implementation of CEDAW.
Amongst
other notable efforts, with the support from the UN Development Fund for Women
(UNIFEM), Nigerian women launched campaign against gender violence. The program
included legal and social services for victims and their families, sensitivity
training for law enforcement and government officials and community based
education activities aimed particularly at young people. This project was
launched IN 1998 by UNIFEM and the Nigerian non – governmental Women’s Centre
for Peace and Development, named; Social Advocacy Against Violence Against
Women (SAAVAW) with funds from UNIFEM’s Trust Fund in Support of Actions to
Eliminate Violence Against Women.
With
reference to CEDAW’ s report in 2008, the following issues were
highlighted , this was in relation to
how successful the government has been at incorporating key articles of the
convention. This is captured against and in relation to violence against women.
Articles 3-4
Most of the socio- economic,
legal, and political frameworks needed for the protection and promotion of
women’s rights have not been effectively implemented. In early 2007, the
National Assembly rejected the Bill for the domestication of CEDAW, which
stands as the acid test for gender equality in Nigeria. This has put on hold
the process of integrating CEDAW Convention as an integral part of the criminal
justice and legal administrative system in Nigeria.
Article 5
Gender stereotypes continued to
be reinforced in Nigeria as series of the agents of socialisation such as the
family, schools, churches, mosques, and the media have become custodians as
well as disseminators of gender roles, stereotypes, prejudices and
discriminatory cultures. Girls and boys grow up in Nigerian society to accept
male superiority over female and the patriarchal structure has become
unquestionable phenomenon. The Teachers, Religious Leaders, Parents, Police
Officers and Artistes in Nigeria usually work to promote obnoxious customary
beliefs and practices that violate the rights of women. Consequently, customary
practices such as female genital mutilation, preference for male-child, and
widowhood rites are still prevalent in most parts of Nigeria. Gender stereotypes in Nigeria are further
reinforced by lack of national legislations aimed at disabusing the mind of
people of such stereotypes as well as specify the punishment for offenders.
Article 6
Trafficking and exploitation of
women and children in Nigeria still go on because the Government only focus on
the legal regulation and established an agency National Agency for Prohibition
of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) to check the syndrome while the remote
causes of trafficking and exploitation such as poverty, unemployment,
Illiteracy, are yet to be seen as important indicators, and yet to be
addressed.
Considering
that this report was produced in 2008, the next question arises; have there
been positive improvements or changes since then? Unfortunately this is not the
case because a very recent incident in 2011 has come to reveal. In October
2011, a very worrying event and the most recent case of VAW occurred. A young
female university student was gang raped. This rape incident was video taped.
Typical of such events there was a widespread clamour for justice by several
gender and human rights organisation, persuading the government and the
legislative to take decisive actions and bring the offenders to the books.
As
gathered from Daily Trust – National Newspaper, a meeting was held in the
Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, by key organisations and stakeholders to
further discuss the issue of sexual violence as a result of this event and the
disturbing and unsatisfactory manner in which the government and key
authorities handled the act. The meeting was finalised with action plans to set
up a task force that would create a secure avenue where cases of sexual
violence can be reported without fear of stigmatisation or persecution. They
also decided to develop a paper on sexual violence, which would engage with and
sensitise lawmakers on the need to pass the Violence against Persons (VAPP)
bill pending at the National Assembly.
As
the saying goes “it’s a man’s world”, but I would have to note that there would
be no man, if there was no woman”. Therefore there should be a critical
reflection and social change in the country with regards to the importance of
ensuring and appreciating that a woman’s safety and well-being amongst other
important human necessities, is of primary concern to the Nigerian authorities.
In
summary, although I appreciate that Violence against Women has witnessed a
reduction over the years, as the advocacies have increased and more women have
become more educated and financially empowered, hence are able to speak out
(although it is still the case that there are some women who are economically
empowered, yet experiencing violence in their relationships or workplace, and
suffering silently as a result of the fear of social stigmatization). In
addition, it is my opinion that Nigerian authorities have been more rhetorical than positively active towards ensuring that the right laws and
legislatures are in existence to curb, correct and compensate cases of VAW
Although, International bodies, Women organizations and non – governmental
organizations, continue with passion and relentless spirits to direct and
influence positive changes, their efforts over the years have witnessed minimal
success and the issues still remain – weak laws and legislature to punish
offenders and protect the victims, a closed system whereby victims are scared
of the consequences of reporting because they would be socially stigmatized and
abandoned, the measure of the violence they experience may increase as a result
of their attempt to report these cases.
The way forward at the end, I suggest would be … more pressure, more advocacies,
creating a whistle blowing system or organization where victims or witnesses
can report to without the fear of being bullied or socially reprimanded, a more
proactive government and less violence. Please share your opinions and
suggestions!
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