For Immediate Release
Re:
Increase in Cases of Rape and Sexual Assault on Female University Student in
Nigeria by Members of the Academic Staff.
Sunday,
13 September 2015 - The Nigerian Feminist Forum (NFF) is
dismayed and alarmed by what appears to be an overwhelming rise in reported cases
of sexual assault and rape of female university students by male members of the
academic staff and students across university campuses in Nigeria and calls for
attention to the need to take action to stem this trend urgently.
In the past few months, there have been several notable reports
of incidents of rape of and sexual violence on female students by members of
the academic staff in several universities. For instance in the last week of
August 2015, Professor Cyril Ndifon, Dean
of the Faculty of Law University of Calabar is alleged to have sexually
assaulted a 20 year old, 400 level law student from the same university. On or
about July 23 2015 Dr.
Akin Baruwa, a lecturer with the University of Lagos,
allegedly raped an 18 year old female admission seeker.
It is pertinent to state
here that the vast majority of cases of sexual violence against female
university students in Nigeria go unreported for various reasons associated with
victim shaming, stigma, character assassination, public backlash and limited
access to justice for victims. In many cases, female students who have reported
such cases have been subsequently targeted for reprisal attacks by thugs, cultists
or university teachers.
The mass abuse of female
university students in Nigeria is fueled by the lack of a consistent and clear
policy by university governing bodies and school authorities concerning sexual
harassment, sexual assault and rape of female students. Student handbooks
and codes of conduct for staff and students are generally ‘silent’ on this and
do not adequately address issues of violence against women. Sexual assaults are hardly mentioned during
orientation for first year students neither are there any dedicated channels of
redress or support for students who experience this form of violence whilst on campus.
It is not enough for
university authorities to continue to disassociate themselves, single out,
disown or suspend individual perpetuators of such grievous crime of gender
based violence and abuse of public office and trust without providing any sort
of support and care for the victims and their families.
Rape is a crime under the
criminal and penal code in Nigeria. Sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape is
a clear violation of Article 3 (4) of the protocol to the African
Charter on Human and Peoples rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (2003),
Article 2 (d) of The Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW) 1979 and Section 24 of the Violence Against Person
Prohibition (VAPP) Act 2014. Sexual abuse of female students directly impedes on the progresses
made in advancing Girl-Child education,
in fulfillment of the MDGs and newly adopted SDGs, as well at the objectives
sited on the AU Agenda 2063
regarding Girl-child education.
The Nigerian Feminist Forum hereby calls on the Academic
Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to;
(a) Adopt and enforce a comprehensive
sexual harassment policy for its members;
(b) Penalize by delisting any of its
members convicted of an act of sexual offense;
(c) Sensitize its members on the
debilitating effect of sexual harassment of female students.
The
governing bodies of tertiary schools should immediately;
(a) Adopt policies and measures to address
the issue of sexual violation of female university students by fellow students
and members of staff;
(b) Operationalize a comprehensive policy
on eradicating sexual harassment on campus;
(c) Put in place a victim’s response
mechanism for reporting, investigating and prosecution of perpetuators of
sexual violence against female students;
(d) Conduct a mass sensitization on sexual
violence across all campuses in Nigeria.
Members of the CSOs and
Media continue to;
(a) Support victims to report cases of
sexual harassment and abuse;
(b) Ensure the full prosecution of
perpetuators of sexual crimes against women;
(c) Ensure that the ongoing cases of 2
university lectures before the law courts are not swept under the carpet;
(d) Victims of sexual abuse are given the
right support and care and;
(e) Issues of sexual abuse are kept in the
front burner of national news.
The
NFF is ready to offer its support and expertise to the ASUU, body of
Vice-Chancellors, the National Universities Commission (NUC) ministries of
education and other policy makers at federal and state levels as well as the
police and law enforcement agencies, in developing appropriate skills,
standards, protocols and processes to urgently respond to this growing epidemic
of sexual violence in educational institutions in Nigeria.
Signed,
Geraldyn
Ezeakile
NFF
Secretariat.
58B
Awoniyi Elemo Street,
Ajao
Estate Isolo,
Lagos Nigeria.
Tel: +234 1 7615407
Email: nff@alliancesforafrica.org, nigerianfeminist@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/nigerianfeministforum
Twitter: nff2008
Lagos Nigeria.
Tel: +234 1 7615407
Email: nff@alliancesforafrica.org, nigerianfeminist@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/nigerianfeministforum
Twitter: nff2008
About
the NFF;
The
Nigerian Feminist Forum is a biennial conference that brings together Nigerian
feminist activists to deliberate on issues of key concern to the movement.
