RAPE IN NIGERIA by Gbenga Adene

In Nigeria, the provisions of law only condemns rape against girls/women. It is only in Federal Capital Territory (Abuja) that there's a provision for rape against men.

In other words, a man cannot be raped in Ondo state (and other States in Nigeria), but can be raped in the Federal Capital Territory (Abuja),  according to VIOLENCE AGAINST PERSONS (PROHIBITED) ACT, 2015.
Section (1) of the Act says,
1(a) a person commits the offence of rape if he or she intentionally penetrates the vagina, anus, mouth of another person with any other part of his or her body or anything else;
(b) the other person does not consent to the penetration.

1. Rape can be easily proved if the victim reports at any police station and go to a hospital for the necessary tests immediately after the crime is committed.

 It would have been easier to prove if our legal system made provisions for rape victim to access health facilities for free tests, but, we don't just take things seriously in this part of the World. Maybe until a daughter of one of the top People of this Country falls victim, maybe then, they'd realize that things are getting out of hands.

2. The inept attitude and victim blaming of Nigerian Police Force towards rape victims should be condemned totally! How can you ask a victim, "wetin you sef dey do for him place at night?" There is NO justification for rape.

3. I personally do not support castration or death penalty, until we do a line-by-line law that will put rape in different degrees for rapist but until then, a stiffer penalties should be put in place!

We also need to revisit our laws in the Nigeria, because men/boys are being raped too, but unfortunately, the position of the law in Ondo State and other States (except FCT) has made it difficult/impossible for a male rape victim to win a case against a female rapist.

We really need to revisit our laws in each State and in Nigeria at large, so that rape victims can get justice easily irrespective of their gender.

In Ekiti State, the Gender Based Violence Law signed by Governor Kayode Fayemi failed to make provision for the Men! Though the law is a welcome development, because the reasonable Governor made a provision for the physical, financial and psychological care for rape victims. The only law that made provision for Men is VIOLENCE AGAINST PERSONS (PROHIBITED) ACT, 2015 (VAPPA), which applies only in Abuja.

4. Also, it is impossible under the Law in Nigeria for a Man to rape his wife and vice versa. I am of the opinion that this particular law should be revisited as well. There are a lot of women going through sexual abuse in their marriages.

5. We're gradually having a Community saturated with broken people carrying mental illness all around, because the law and its society failed them. It's our collective responsibility to fight this menace in our society headlong.

Gbenga Adene writes from Akure, Nigeria
 #SayYourMind #NoToRape