The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Women Affairs, Ifeoma Anabogwu, has said that enforcement and implementation of laws posed a great problem in Nigeria.
Anabogwu, who was a panelist at the EU-UN joint spotlight initiative tagged, “The Survivors’ Summit – Ending Sexual Harassment in Tertiary Institutions“, urged stakeholders and universities to ensure that sexual harassment policies were being implemented.
The panel had a discussion centered around the way forward and support for passage of the 2019 Harassment in Tertiary Educational Institutions Bill.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the bill is titled: “A Bill for an Act to Prevent, Prohibit and Redress Sexual Harassment of Students in Tertiary Educational Institutions and for Matters Concerned Therewith, 2019.”
It is sponsored by the Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, and 106 other senators and seeks to promote and protect ethical standards in tertiary institutions.
The Special Adviser to the Deputy Senate President on Legislative and Plenary Matters, Prince EfeDuku, speaking on the panel, said that every institution must set up an independent sexual harassment committee.
“This committee will be enabled to receive petitions from students where there is a case of harassment.
“Failure to set up such committee by an institution will attract jail term and if a victim of sexual harassment is victimised, appropriate justice would be given to those deserving,” he said.
NAN reports that the Summit brought together women directly or indirectly affected by the scourge of rape and sexual harassment in tertiary institutions.
The women discussed challenges, the way forward and came up with tangible steps towards the prevention and response to rape in Nigerian tertiary institutions.
Meanwhile, in a separate panel discussion moderated by the founder , Women at Risk International Foundation (WARIF), Kemi Dasilva Ibru, panelists shared their experiences with sexual violence and how they overcame.
Brenda Uphoupho, producer, writer and lead convener of the Fringe Festival narrated how she was abused both physically and sexually by an unknown man while growing up.
“I had to pretend to be married while in university in order to prevent a reccurrence of sexual violence. That was my protective armour,” she said.
Chioma Okpala, a broadcast journalist said that victims always found it hard to report cases to the right authorities.
“I have friends that were taken advantage of and till date can’t tell their parents or the right agency because they are not sure they will be believed.
“I was able to help myself by finding people to talk to and learning practical ways to prevent reccurrences,” Okpala said. (NAN)
