WUNRN
Nigeria: Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act,
signed 25 May 2015, provides “comprehensive” medical assistance to victims of
violence, including rape or incest. The Act expands definitions of
violence, including rape.
VIOLENCE AGAINST PERSONS
(PROHIBITION) ACT, 2015, NIGERIA
Legislation online: http://www.refworld.org/docid/556d5eb14.html
Synopsis by Women’s
Aid Collective (WACOL):
On May 25th 2015 the immediate past President of Nigeria, Goodluck Ebele
Jonathan recorded a
milestone when he signed into Law the Violence Against Persons
Prohibition Act, 2015. This has brought
to a successful conclusion the 14-year-long social and legislative
advocacy championed by women’s
groups and gender activists towards the passage of this law that
will protect women and girls from all
forms of violence. This Act, according to its long title, is aimed
to eliminate violence in private and
public life, prohibit all forms of violence, including physical,
sexual, psychological, domestic, harmful
traditional practices; discrimination against persons and to
provide maximum protection and effective
remedies for victims and punishment of offenders.
This Act commendably covers most of the prevalent forms of
violence that could be categorized into:
Physical violence; Psychological violence; Sexual violence;
Harmful traditional practices; and Socioeconomic
violence. Specifically, The VAPP Act comprehensively dealt with
one of the most vexed forms
of sexual violence, rape, from which existing penal laws protected
only females and limited to vaginal
penetration. It has expanded the scope of rape to protect males
and to include anal and oral sex as well as
protect the identity of rape victims. The following are offences
punishable under the Act: Rape, Inflicting
Physical Injury on a Person, Female Circumcision or Genital
Mutilation, Forceful Ejection from Home,
Depriving a Person of His/Her Liberty, Forced Financial Dependence
or Economic Abuse, Forced
Isolation or Separation from Family and Friends, Emotional Verbal
and Psychological Abuse, Harmful
Widowhood Practices, Abandonment of Spouse, Children and Other Dependent
without Sustenance,
Spousal/Partner Battery, Indecent exposure, Harmful Traditional
Practices, Political Violence, and
Violence by State Actors. Other innovations in this Act includes
the prohibition and punishment for
stalking, substance attack, criminalizing incestuous conducts,
protection order for victims and persons
under threat of violence, and compensation for victims of
violence. It provided for a register for convicted
sexual offenders, which shall be maintained and accessible to the
public.
Importantly,
the Act contained provisions on effective remedies, including the rights of
victims to
assistance.
According to section 38, “Every victim is entitled to receive the necessary
materials,
comprehensive
medical, psychological, social and legal assistance through governmental
agencies and/or
non-governmental
agencies providing such assistance.” Victims are entitled to be informed of the
availability
of legal, health and social services and other relevant assistance and be
readily afforded access
to
them. Furthermore, it provides that: “Victims are entitled to rehabilitation
and re-integration
programme
of the State to enable victims to acquire, where applicable and necessary,
pre-requisite skills
in
any vocation of the victim's choice and also in necessary formal education or
access to micro credit
facilities.”
Importantly,
the Act contained provisions on effective remedies, including the rights of
victims to
assistance.
According to section 38, “Every victim is entitled to receive the necessary
materials,
comprehensive
medical, psychological, social and legal assistance through governmental
agencies and/or
non-governmental
agencies providing such assistance.” Victims are entitled to be informed of the
availability
of legal, health and social services and other relevant assistance and be
readily afforded access
to
them. Furthermore, it provides that: “Victims are entitled to rehabilitation
and re-integration
programme
of the State to enable victims to acquire, where applicable and necessary,
pre-requisite skills
in
any vocation of the victim's choice and also in necessary formal education or
access to micro credit
facilities.”
This
Act, long overdue in coming, will unarguably bring succor and effective
remedies to millions of
victims
who have suffered in silence without recourse to justice or rehabilitative-
psycho-social support
for
their recovery and reintegration. The Act affords access and better services
for victims/survivors of
violence,
such as hotlines, shelters, legal advice, access to justice, counselling,
police protection, and
comprehensive
health services. The only drawback in relation to this law is its limited
application to the
Federal
Capital Territory, Abuja. This is as a result of the nature of Nigeria’s federal
structure and
constitutional
distribution of powers between the Federal Government and States of the
Federation. It is
expected
that 36 states of Nigeria will take immediate and necessary action to adopt and
enact similar law
on
Violence against persons.
WACOL,
as a foundation member of the Legislative Advocacy Coalition on Violence
against Women
(LACVAW)
has been involved since inception, especially through the contributions of its
founding
director
Joy Ngozi Ezeilo in the drafting and follow-up social and legislative advocacy
towards the
passage
of the law on violence against persons. At the Public Hearing organized by the
Senate of the
National
Assembly on 2nd
March 2015, WACOL
submitted comprehensive memoranda to the Senate
Committee
on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, making a strong case for the
immediate
passage
of the law, including suggestions for its expansion. Further WACOL organized on
October 23,
2014
a Mock Tribunal/Court on Sexual and Gender Based Violence right inside the
parliament in
collaboration
with the National Assembly Women Affairs Committee and Ipas. The Mock
Tribunal/Court
was
used to spotlight cases of gender based violence in Nigeria and raise the
voices of victims and
survivors
towards urgent action in enacting protective laws, especially the passage into
law of the
Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Bill.