Happy Easter Nigerians! The #VAPPBill Must Not Outlive This Legislative Assembly

Happy Easter to all Christians!  May the joy and peace attached to the Easter celebration be with us, now and always (Amen).

However as we celebrate the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is important to bring to fore the realities of our generation.

While some are celebrating the Easter with fun-fare and love, others are in pain as a result of the present injustice that could have been averted. One of such is the silent cries inflicted through sexual violence.

                                    

Sexual violence includes rape, sodomy and sex abuse, while violence against women comes in different forms such as battery, rape, forced marriage, female genital mutilation, sexual harassment, human trafficking and harmful widowhood rites.

Rape, amongst other sexual violence presents grave physical, psychological & reproductive health consequences for victims, families & communities. 

In fact, you must have observed that cases of violence against women and minor have been on the increase in recent times.

According to the Ipas media tracking reports, a minimum of 3,800 rape cases has been reported in the print media in the last 3 years.

The truth is that perpetrators of rape cut across class, status and religious orientation. Just as the prevalence of rape cut across ethnicity and tribe, so does rape victims cut across different ages.

                                        

In Nigeria (and perhaps in other parts of the world), rape of minors and the elderly is on a 

startling increase and a good percentage of rape is by acquaintances & trusted relations are far higher than rape by strangers.

Rape presents grave physical, psychological & reproductive health consequences for victims, families & communities.

In a study by Ipas in Kano, 1 out of every 3 gynaecologic presentations at the hospital was a rape case. While the age-range of survivors was one to forty-five years; assault was either penile (86%) or finger (14%).

Results also showed that 41% of victims were aged 1-9. While those aged 10-14 years made up 31 percent; more than one-third (37%) of the survivors had sexually transmitted infections while 21 percent presented had varying degrees of injuries in their genitals.

 In a similar study conducted in Benin City, 48 percent of rape survivors were less than 13 years of age. (Olusanya et al).

Domestic violence afflicts women in all social strata and geographical location. However, battered women who live in poverty or those who do not have their own incomes, have fewer options. These women often leaves them either staying with the abuser or taking longer to leave.

Painfully, Nigeria currently has a very poor legal framework to address violence against persons. Existing laws against violence in Nigeria are restrictive and obsolete.

An example is the Section 55 of the Penal Code Penal Code provision that allows a man to chastise his wife in order to correct her, so far he does not inflict grievous bodily harm.

                                                     

To address the ugly trend, there is need for the speedy passage of the VAPP Bill by the Nigeria Senate.

VAPP Bill is an acronym for Violence Against Persons Prohibition Bill. It is an amalgam of 9 different Bills before the National Assembly during the 5th and 6th Assembly.  

The VAPP Bill seeks to eradicate violence in the public and private spaces.

It was successfully passed by the House of Reps. On March 15, 2013, but now the attention is on the Senate where it just went through 1st Reading on March 18, 2014.

Add your voice today. Support the passage of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Bill.

Tweet at your senator. Email and SMS them. Remind them that we have a duty to protect our people.

Say No to all sort of sexual violence. Practice this and get the word out.

The VAPP Bill must not outlive this Legislative Assembly.

                        

P.S: Join the conversation on social network and advocate for the reform of our (Nigerian) abortion laws to empower victims of rape & incest to make informed decisions. You too can add your voice to this campaign by following, sharing and acting (positively) on the hash-tags on social media networks:  #DoSomething #Choice4Life #PassVAPPBill.