Grace Yussuf
14 January 2008
Lagos — With the increasing spate of violence against woman, especially in Nigeria, Grace Yussuf of News Agency of Nigeria highlists the evils of the barbaric act and the need for governments, organisation and the entire citizenry to rise up against the malaise
For Mrs Amina Nwachukwu, from Kaduna in the northern part of the country, getting married to her heartthrob, Sylvanus Nwachuwku, an Igbo from the east, was not easy.
Her mother refused to give in to her wish to marry a "total stranger", while the father disowned her. Against the wish of the parents and many relations, Amina had her way.
But what happened to Amina after her spouse died last year made her wish she had listened to her parents. She was also forced to sleep with the corpse to prove that she had no hand in his death. Amina's experience is just one of the many abuses which women suffer in many parts of the country.
Last year, 14-year-old Nike Olawo suffered a worse form of abuse while staying with her mother and stepfather. By her account, Nike, who resides in Lagos, was repeatedly raped by her stepfather until she fell sick and was diagnosed to be HIV positive.
Elsewhere, 12-year-old Zainab Ali was forced to marry a 55-year-old man chosen by her parents. She got pregnant a few months after the marriage but could not have a normal delivery because her pelvis was too small. Zainab later died of birth complications resulting from "obstructed labour" after her husband refused to endorse a Caesarian operation.
In other climes, these experiences may sound bizarre, but they are common occurrences in the country where the woman goes through all forms of physical and mental abuse. According to Mrs Joy Ezeilo, the Executive Director, Women's Aid Collective (WACOL), violence against women is often explained away as demands of tradition and culture.
"The sad thing about such incidents is that these forms of abuse are inflicted on the victims by persons very close to them.
"Spouses and even blood relations daily subject the women to untold hardship and physical abuse in the belief that they are doing the right thing," she says.
Daily, the media carry pictures of women inflicted with one form of violence or the other in the name of harmful traditional practices and other human rightsviolations.
Among common forms of violence against women in the country are rape, wife battery, female genital mutilation (FGM) as well as forced and child marriages. Others include acid attacks, harmful widowhood rites and the denial of inheritance rights.
Some of these violations have resulted either in the maiming of the victims or premature death. Records also show that early marriages result in Vesico Vaginal Fistula, while such young women are easily divorced by the usually elderly husbands.
"Unfortunately, the society looks the other way while the lives of these young girls and women are being ruined daily," says Altine Ahmadu, a social welfare worker in Karu, FCT.
For analysts, the situation is puzzling because Nigeria is a signatory to many regional and international instruments aimed at protecting the woman.
Among these instruments are the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination of All Forms of Violence Against Women (CEDAW) and the UN Child Rights Convention. Others include the African Charter on Human and People's Rights, the Protocol of the African Charter on Human and People's Rights and the African Charter on the Rights and
Welfare of the Child.
According to Ezeilo, these protocols, if fully implemented, will minimise the dangers women face on a daily basis. Ezeilo, who attended a meeting of NGOs as part of the 42nd session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights in Congo Brazzaville, decries the lack of statistics on harmful practices in many African nations.
"These harmful practices go on every moment but it is easy to deny them because they are hardly recorded," she says.
The rights campaigner wants member states to domesticate these treaties aimed at criminalising and punishing all forms of violence and discrimination against women.
As a body with an observer status at the African Commission, WACOL has advised the commission to work closely with NGOs to monitor the governments' implementation of the African Charter on Human Rights.
WACOL has also suggested that 2008 be dedicated to a continental campaign against harmful traditional practices, especially FGM.
Worried by the rampant cases of such abuses, UNIFEM has established a UN Trust Fund in support of actions to eliminate violence against women. The Trust Fund, instituted in 1996, has been supporting the effective implementation of national laws, policies and plans of action on ending violence against women.
NGOs in Nigeria have continued to benefit from the Fund. Major beneficiaries include Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre, Civil Resource Development and Documentation Centre and WACOL.
On successes recorded so far, the outgoing UNIFEM Regional Director, Ms Florence Butegwa, recently said that the Fund had made much impact in redressing violence gainst women in Nigeria.
"Several outcomes are already visible here. For instance, a great number of police stations have now established special units to handle cases of violence against women.
"We have also been able to raise significant awareness on the scourge in rural communities," she says.
Butegwa says the UN is determined to support the growing number of people who daily raise their voices to demand an end to violence against women.
"We want to sustain this tempo until the issue becomes a top priority for those in authority," she says.
But analysts say that efforts to end violence against women can only succeed if some sections of the statute books that legalise such violence are expunged.
One section often mentioned is the portion which states that a wife can be chastised by the husband as long as he does not inflict bodily harm on her. The analysts also say that sanctions
for rape are not stiff enough to deter potential rapists.
They want the country to respect international instruments and conventions to which it is a signatory, especially the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action.
At the Beijing conference, participating countries agreed to adequately protect women against all kinds of violence.
Women Affairs Minister Saudat Bungudu agrees that tackling the problem of violence against women is a challenging task.'
'It calls for adequate funds and total commitment at all levels of governance," she says.
The minister says the situation also calls for more awareness among the populace as well as the monitoring of the impact of interventions. She promises that government will work toward protecting activists and the victims of violence.
"I will like to call on all stakeholders to sustain the efforts, while some of us will provide the leadership till we succeed in ending violence against women," she says.
Bungudu also harps on the need to include child and women's rights in school curricula as well as the need to eliminate harmful traditional practices.
To ensure success, experts suggest that education for girls be made free and compulsory at all levels. They also want NGOs to work closely with government in monitoring the implementation of various conventions on women's rights.
With more violence against women being reported daily, analysts are urging stakeholders to sustain efforts to stem the trend. They equally canvass for safeguarding the Nigerian woman against all forms of violence so that she can contribute positively to nation building.
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