LIBRA ADVOCACY DEV. ORG. OF NIGERIA; IN SOLIDARITY AGAINST RAPE & SEXUAL ASSAULTS | adekkatv

Caveat: RAPE is no sexist and not limited to any strata, but recent statistics shows that the
female gender especially those in the lower class has the worst hit from this rising scourge.
This dastard inhumanity against women and girl child has to end NOW!

During the ancient times, especially before the middle age, Emperor Caesar Constantine, a
major but controversial ruler of importance, redefined rape as a public offense rather than
as a private wrong. Interestingly, the punishment for people found guilty of rape was death,
which was the same as for treason and murder. Unfortunately, in the 12th century, wide
range of capital punishment was adopted in order to give room for less brutal and bloody
punishments - a victim of rape might be expected to gouge out the eyes and/or sever the
offender's testicles herself. Despite the harshness of these laws, actual punishments were
usually far less severe than the damage rape does to the victims.

As civilization continues to envelop human existence, rape has become a societal wrong
with drastic increase in rape cases involving toddlers and widows. Unfortunately, rape cases involving members of the lower class were rarely brought forward, and usually ended with
only a small monetary fine or a marriage between the victim and the rapist. This
discrimination and abuse of privileges by some members of the upper class welcomed a
skyrocket in number of rape victims – they perpetrate this evil and get away with it. Today,
nine centuries later, humanity is threatened by an unprecedented rise in rape cases across
the globe.

As an advocacy group, we wish to focus our binoculars on our home country, Nigeria, by
sharing our stance on the subject matter – advocate more brutal punishment for people
prosecuted and found guilty of rape by a competent court of law. It has become imperative
for us as a country to review the ambiguities in our Child Rights Act, Violence Against
Persons Prohibition Act, Criminal Law of Lagos, Penal code and Criminal Code. In addition,
the need to improve on investigation by security agencies and to strengthen our judiciary in
the fight against rape among other inhumanities against women has become evident. No
doubt, critical times like this requires critical measures and approach, else we would have a
case that further endangers women and the girl child in our country. Today, we wish to
advocate for the inclusion of rape among the worst capital crimes that could be committed
by man and that rapists should be subjected to execution. This extremely harsh punishment may not end rape but we are confident it will bring rape to its knees.

Inarguably, today, the abduction, rape and murder of women or youths is a common theme
in modern Nigeria. Before we express our disappointment in the most recent rape cases and eventual murder of the victims (Uwa, Tina and other victims), we must remind ourselves of
the over 300 girls abducted from two different communities in Maiduguri – Nigeria, and
most probably raped by members of the Boko Haram Terrorist group, high number of
unreported girl child marriages and slavery. These are of great concerns to all of us on this side of the divides. Today, Nigeria is one of extremely dangerous countries for women to
live, in the world. This is as a result of how vulnerable the Nigerian society has left the
female gender and the corresponding suppression they also suffer in every facets of life. It is time for us as a people to make laws that will protect women against all forms of oppression and inhumanity, in our society – punishments may include death and forfeiture of all assets belonging to the perpetrator.

Historically, there was a dark era in human existence – a period when rape of a slave could
be prosecuted only as damage to the owner's property. People who worked
as prostitutes or entertainers, even if they were technically free, suffered loss of legal and
social standing. A person who made his or her body available for public use or pleasure had
in effect surrendered the right to be protected from sexual abuse or physical violence. Then,
the criminal justice system of many countries was widely regarded as unfair to sexual
assault victims. Both sexist stereotypes and common law combined to make rape a criminal proceeding on which the victim and her behavior were tried rather than the defendant. Today, the rhetoric has changed, and the world has become a saner clime in regards to our interpretation of rape and sexual assaults against women – we no longer submit the discourse to the chastity of rape victims but to the moralities of the perpetrators.

Prior to the social media era, when victims were unable to bring this scourge to the front
burners, adult women were often extremely reluctant to bring up charges of rape - public
admission of having been raped was severely damaging to their social standing, as courts
tended to be skeptical of the charges, conviction rates were low, and, in the event that the
accusation could not be proved, the victim could then be accused of committing adultery
with the rapist. Today, women have themselves become a voice against all forms of sexual
assaults against them, creating women liberation organizations, rape crisis centers and
other community-based service providers continue to grow and serve their communities by
providing direct services and prevention programs – they no longer bury their harrowing
ordeals, but share their stories in order to bring perpetrators to book and to also teach
mothers and younger women lessons.

#JusticeForUwa

#JusticeForTina

#JudticeforB

#JusticeForAll RapeVictims

Kindly report rape cases to Stand To End Rape (STER) http://standtoendrape.org/ - they
provide support to survivors of sexual assault and rape.

This message is powered by the Libra Advocacy for Development Organization (LiADO)