Rape, torture, abuses, harassments and molestation.
These are just a few of the many dangers the average female confront in our world today. No day that passes without multiple reports of rape of a minor by a septuagenarian, a father, a teacher, a spiritual leader or a traditional ruler. It appears that raping under-aged girls has become the favourite pastime of many male adults in several parts of the world today.
Rape may be a worldwide phenomenon but the situation in Nigeria appears very much pronounced in recent times. From Calabar to Maidugiri, Osun to Sokoto, Awka to Abeokuta, the news media is replete with endless reports of young girls who were raped by their neighbours, fathers, school teachers and those you would least expect- clerics.
According to UN Children Fund, one in ten girls under the age of 18 is a victim of sexual violence. At a recent event put together by the Salama Sexual Assault Referral Center in Gwamna Awan General Hospital- the Kaduna state capital- North West Nigeria, it was reported that a 3-year-old girl who was under the care of her grandmother was raped twice by a 44-year-old neighbor. Another victim- a 10-year-old girl was reportedly raped by a 29-year-old man living in her neighborhood within Kaduna.
In July this year, Moses Okechukwu, a 28 year old man living in Lagos was arraigned before a Magistrate court after he was caught by neigbours raping a 13 year old girl.
In July also, two young men in Katsina said to be in their 20s- Ismail Abdulmumini, and Sani Haruna, were arrested by the Kastina State Police Command for raping their neighbour’s 10-year old daughter.
In August, Al Jazeera reported that at Abagena Camp in Markurdi- Benue State- where internally displaced persons were kept after internal strife in their communities led to the death of an estimated 4, 000 persons, rape of women by soldiers, camp officials and male adults was a regular occurrence.
The situation is not dissimilar in Maidugiri where New York Times reported in 2017 that more than 7, 000 girls and women have been raped by Boko Haram terrorists and soldiers in the last 8 years since the terrorist group took control of most parts of the region.
Also in July this year, the news media was awash with reports of alleged abuse of thousands of northern under-aged girls by clerics, teachers and older adults. The reports captioned under the #ArewaMeToo movement shared direct accounts of people abused and traumatized in their most vulnerable moments by those they trusted.
Across Nigeria, girls are being raped in schools, Sunday-School, Islamiyya schools, in their compounds and wherever it is they can be found. The general impression right now is that girls are no longer safe and can be targeted by these rapists at any time.
Many have tried to pin the rising frequency of these immoral acts to economic frustration, unemployment, and troubles arising from a failed economy. Those who share this position argue that the men who molest under-aged girls are largely frustrated and mentally unstable on account of the poor economic situation in the country. There are claims that these issues began to escalate with the recent economic contraction that began not too long ago.
There also are some commentators who attribute the rising cases of rape in the country to a breakdown of morality in the society, the commercialization of sex and the influence of pornographic objects and materials on the internet, on CDs and across several other media. For some others, the problem arises from the kind of music videos and exposures most people have on TVs today.
No secular music video is complete without images of scantily dressed women displaying their body parts in the most seductive manners. Another factor that has been pointed as spurring the menace of raping under-aged girls is the casualisation of sex in most circles and societies. Sex is no longer as sacred as it once was as many have now come
to view it the same way regular activities are perceived.
School children discuss sex on their way to school, while going home at the end of each school day, in the dormitories, in classrooms and at playfields. They write about it on the walls and stir curiosity in the hearts of the uninitiated.
Today’s dress sense especially amongst women could also be a factor in understanding the rising frequency of sexual misconduct and violence against innocent female under-aged children. Provocative dresses that leave very little to imagination have been condemned by moral and religious teachers. Efforts by several institutions to impose dress codes for female students have been very ineffective in curbing this ugly menace.
In the estimation of many commentators, the objectification of women in movies, music videos, magazines and on social media has led to a lot of unintended consequences. It is strange that so many feminist and women right groups are not protesting the impression movie and music producers create about women- projecting them as items of pleasure, objects for the satisfaction of certain cravings and of no further value after…
The rape of minors is on the rise because of the persistent decline in moral values, the abandonment of the message of decency by religious instructors and a certain inability to draw the line between what is morally acceptable and what is reprehensible by many in the society.
Ongoing efforts by legislative bodies in states and at the centre to create more effective mechanism for punishing rapists and protect their victims must be hastened. It makes no sense to have rapists walk the streets freely while the victims writhe in pain and misery in the privacy of their homes. Rape victims- even infants- must be encouraged to speak out, to call out their abusers and insist that they be punished. Police operatives also have a duty in curbing rape. First- there is the urgent need to train more officers on how rape cases are handled, how to prosecute rapists and protect the victims.
Most importantly- the parents have a role in all of these. Parents- especially mothers- must make themselves easy to approach. They must give listening ears to their female children and have the girls confide in them. Parents must also report rape cases to the police as soon as the matter is brought to their attention.
It is unwise to shield a rapist because you are afraid of the shame making the matter public would bring to your family. The real shame belongs with the rapist. Everything possible must be done to bring anyone who imagines that he would satisfy his lust by raping a child to book to serve as a deterrent to would-be offenders.
