The Gains of 16 Days Activism Campaigns on no Violence against Women and Girls

By Ozioma Izuora

“Violation of human rights is the trademark of terrorists. Women and girls bear the brunt of the dehumanisation that accompanies terrorism, but are mostly ignored as mere collateral damage.” – Ozioma Izuora

This year, 2021, is the 30th anniversary of the 16 Days of Activism on no Violence Against Women, having been launched by the Centre for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL) at its leadership institute in 1991. The Campaign has been employed globally to call for the elimination of gender-based violence (GBV). It holds annually from November 25 (International Day Against Violence Against Women) to December 10 (International Human Rights Day). In 2018, a multi-year theme focusing on ending GBV and harassment in the world of work was announced by CWGL to coincide with the adoption of a new ILO Convention on the same objective. The momentum increased in 2020, to amplify the voices of women workers in the informal economy, while continuing to call for the ratification of ILO Convention 190 to end all forms of GBV in private and public spaces. The 2021 Campaign focuses on Domestic Violence in the world of work, in addition to the crime of femicide. 

The UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (DEVAW) contained the first official definition of gender-based violence in Article 1. Article 2 of the Declaration states that the definition should encompass, acts of physical, sexual, and psychological violence in the family, community, or perpetrated or condoned by the State, wherever it occurs. These acts include: spousal battery; sexual abuse, including of female children; dowry-related violence; rape, including marital rape; female genital mutilation/cutting and other traditional practices harmful to women; non-spousal violence; sexual violence related to exploitation; sexual harassment and intimidation at work, in school and elsewhere; trafficking in women; and forced prostitution.

16 Days Activism is proactive as it takes on developing issues that affect SGBV, from HIV/AIDS to Covid-19 pandemic. Raising awareness on the global exacerbation of incidences of SGBV due to Covid-19 lockdowns, for instance, it reported that in 2020, over 243 million women and girls were abused by an intimate partner with less than 40% of women reporting the violence or seeking help. The Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190) described by the ILO as “the first international treaty on violence and harassment in the world of work”, came into force on June 25, 2021. To date, seven countries have ratified the Convention, including Mauritius, Argentina, Ecuador, Fiji, Namibia, Somalia, and Uruguay.’ Most importantly, C190 contains a broad definition of ‘world of work’ which includes both ‘private and ‘public’ spaces and applies to workers ‘irrespective of their contract status. Among its other highlights, C190 acknowledges domestic violence as a workplace issue, which impacts women’s employment, health, safety, and productivity.

SGBV has long been acknowledged as a global concern, counterpoised to prevailing patriarchy, which from the beginning of time, has sustained the imbalance in power relations between the female and male genders. The current successes being recorded through the 16 Days Activism have their genesis in actions taken by the world to incrementally battle inequity and denial of rights against women, a phenomenon which in turn, breeds violence. Since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), 1948 many instruments have been devoted to combatting the menace. 

The African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) and its Protocol the Maputo Protocol, 1981, have been adopted, in acknowledgement that violence against women is an impediment which must be eliminated in its totality through legislation and multi-sectoral reforms, in accordance with the international obligations of countries. Nigeria has many legislations that reflect best practice to reform its erstwhile outdated laws to address SGBV, ranging from the Child’s Right Act, to the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act and the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, among others. Legislations regulating specialised agencies such as the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) have been made to penalize SGBV crimes. 

But the dual system of criminal justice delivery obtainable in Nigeria and lack of capacity of prosecution agencies impede smooth transition and implementation of these proactive reforms. Besides, even though the above legislations have been hailed as progressive, because they are federal laws, states are either slow in passing them in their assemblies or whittle down or abandon some of the provisions to conform with religious and patriarchal dictates.  In Northern Nigeria, for instance, the concurrent application of Western and Islamic Jurisprudence (Sharia Law) is a stumbling block in the way of convicting perpetrators of SGBV crimes.

A convicted rapist, for instance, may file counter claims on grounds of “character defamation” to avoid punishment, while putting the victim on defence, under the Bauchi State Penal Code. Another example is section 77 of the Penal Code which prescribes that ‘a sentence of caning not exceeding twelve strokes may be passed by any court whether trying a case summarily or otherwise on any male offender in lieu of or in addition to any other punishment to which he might be sentenced for any offence not punishable with death’. There is also section 55 Penal Code which still allows for chastisement of wives by their husbands which women NGOs have battled in vain to reform for the longest time, among other provisions.

The data from the sexual assault referral centres in Kano, between January 2017 to March 2020 shows that 73% of the 2158 patients were girls and victims of domestic violence and rape. Since the tenure of its current governor in 2019, a total of 10,007 cases of SGBV have been recorded by the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT). Meanwhile, on 18 September 2020, the governor of Kaduna State signed into law, the Kaduna State Penal code (Amendment) Law which prescribes the punishment of surgical castration as a punishment for convicts of rape against victims of below 14 years. In her address on the commencement of 16 Days Activism, the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development was reported to have echoed the Kaduna position, suggesting that the federal government should consider making that the law in Nigeria, a panacea against the menace of SGBV.

The Kaduna law is a dangerous one which hopefully will be struck down soon. There is no evidence that castration will curb the crime; it could in fact, lead to more fatal attacks on victims as perpetrators may seek to obliterate evidence of their crimes. And what if even one person convicted of rape and thus punished is subsequently discovered to be innocent? Castration, just like death sentence, is inhumane. Reorientation and reconceptualization of deeply held religious and cultural norms will, in the opinion of this writer, be more efficacious in stemming SGBV crimes. Many perpetrators find ready excuses for the crimes within the prevailing state of things. This is not peculiar to Nigeria, nor to Africa either.

The most recent legislation passed by the Parliament in Nigeria is the Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal of Sexual Harassment in Tertiary Educational Institutions Bill, 2019 (now Act, 2021), came about as a result of an upsurge in sex-for-grade scandals that have blackened tertiary institutions in Nigeria for some time. The widely publicised case of Prof Richard Iyiola Akindele, of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, was, on 17 December 2018, convicted and sentenced to six-years imprisonment by the Federal High Court, Osogbo, Osun State for demanding sex to pass his student, Monica Osagie. His appeal against the sentence was struck out by the Court of Appeal. That matter had been brought under the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) Act. It is hoped that with the passage of the new law, such cases will come under it.

But for femicide and marital rape, Nigeria’s laws have adequately provided for SGBV crimes. The other dimension that currently fuels SGBV crimes in Nigeria and Africa as a whole, is terrorism. Violation of human rights is the trademark of terrorists. Women and girls bear the brunt of the dehumanisation that accompanies terrorism, but are mostly ignored as mere collateral damage. The Chibok Girls are still not home! Policy and strategic frameworks have been in place since the country has had to deal with HIV/AIDS and Ebola. The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is right on top of developments on Covid-19. The increase in SGBV crimes are daily reported by both government and NGO operatives.

The judiciary has recently given two remarkable judgments to reflect a proactive stance to dealing with gender-based violence in Ukatu v FRN and Mesara Ayuba v The State. In Ukatu’s case, the Court of Appeal ruled that performing household chores for their aunt was not child labour under the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act (TPPEAA), 2015. However, withdrawing them from school, subjecting them to servitude by restricting them to the flat, and being inflicted with punishments of chaining, tying, beating and starvation denied the children of their freedom and right to be children that should be cared for and loved. These, the Court of Appeal held, amounted to slavery. While dealing with SGBV crimes, this judgment is a warning not to overlook women perpetrators of SGBV crimes too.

In Mesara’s case, one of the men who was found guilty of rape of a 12–year-old girl, contrary to section 282 (1)(e) of the Penal Code, Laws of Jigawa State, 2012, and was sentenced by the high court to 7-years imprisonment with ten (10) strokes of the cane for ten (10) market days went on appeal against the sentence. Upholding the judgement of the high court, Justice Abiru, JCA, however, held that the sentence for rape of a girl under the age of 14 under the extant law was a mandatory life imprisonment. He, therefore, imposed the life sentence on the accused, correcting the error made in that respect by the lower court. It is hoped that with more awareness, prosecution agencies and the courts will apply the current laws and not exercise ‘discretion’ to minimise the heinous crimes that SGBV really are.

The Centre for Women’s Health and Information (CEWHIN) stated that 30% of women and girls aged 15 – 49 have experienced sexual abuse, but with the advent of the full lockdown enforced by the Federal Government in three states of Lagos, Ogun, and FCT in 2020, the increase was astronomical. Domestic violence cases rose from 60 in March, 2020 to 238 in April and showed 149% increase for the 36 states in Nigeria due to lockdown. Yet it is common knowledge that many cases never would be reported.

The situation of SGBV crimes in Nigeria, Africa and the world will continue to receive the stern stare of activism. With more training for prosecuting agencies and proactive decisions by the courts, as well as multi-sectoral engagement in the public space, the gains of 16 Days Activism will march on until the world attains daily activism. It should be a way of life not to tolerate violence against any gender at all.

Ozioma Izuora, LLM, FCIArb; Executive Director, Mediators & Advocates of Peace (LAMPAIX)