STILL ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

The authorities will do well to enforce the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act

THE VAP LAW DOES NOT ONLY ADDRESS EMERGING FORMS OF VIOLENCE, IT PROVIDES COMMENSURATE PENALTIES FOR OFFENCES SUCH AS SPOUSAL BATTERY, FORCEFUL EJECTION FROM THE HOME, HARMFUL WIDOWHOOD PRACTICES TO GENITAL MUTILATION

Domestic violence in Nigeria is soaring. Reports from across the country give credence to widespread abuses. The outlook is particularly worrying because of the recently enacted law meant to curb such practices. Recently in Lagos, a man chopped off the earlobe of his wife with a plier for inexplicable reason. Cases of rape of women and girls, and in some cases minor, are rampant. Only last week, a young man reportedly locked up his mother in her room and stabbed her to death, claiming that she killed his father through “diabolical means” a year earlier. From physical, sexual, emotional and verbal violence to murder, domestic violence has attained a new high. Who will save our women and girls and all the vulnerable persons from the uncontrolled rage of the men?

While spousal abuse cuts across both sexes, women and girls are predominantly the victims. And because most of the victims are dependent on their so-called spouses, they almost always bear their pains without reporting to the authorities. They include children who are molested by their fathers, housewives who are serially violated and battered by their husbands and female domestic helps who endure all manner of assault from their masters.

What compounds the situation is the culture of “do nothing” in our society. Where incidents are reported or noticed by third parties, they often advice reconciliation. Inevitably, the victims are usually advised to go home and find a way to settle their differences, rather than make public the injury or the violence inflicted within. Again, many abused women who opt to remain in the most challenging of marriages claim stability for their children as an

While it is possible to institute criminal action against the abuser in our country, the investigative and prosecutorial capacities of the nation’s law enforcement agencies are also a huge disincentive. Sexual violence in most cases goes unreported because of the burden of proof required for conviction in addition to the accompanying social stigma.

It is therefore the duty of governments at all levels and indeed, the civil society, to protect the most vulnerable of our society by enlightening them in addition to supporting the establishment of the necessary infrastructure and legal framework to deal with the menace. The police also need continuous training and retraining for specialisation in handling cases reported by these unfortunate women, and must be alerted to the fact that battery and assault remain felonies in our law books, even where inflicted between spouses.

Thankfully, the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) (VAP) Act came into force in the last days of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration. We urge the enforcement of the law. The VAP law does not only address emerging forms of violence, it provides commensurate penalties for offences such as spousal battery, forceful ejection from the home, harmful widowhood practices to genital mutilation and other harmful traditional practices. It is not enough to make laws. The enforcement of the VAP Act, 2015, will help in curbing the flagrant domestic violence in our country. excuse for their “fortitude”. This unhelpful attitude encourages the perpetuation of all manner of domestic violence.

Indeed, the fear of being ostracised, the lack of material and financial resources, and the general lack of sympathy and support from the public have contributed immensely to the growth of domestic violence in many homes. Yet what many fail to understand is that children who witness frequent violence in their lives are more likely to grow up believing that violence is normal within marriages, and are more likely to replicate similar behaviour as adults.