THE MASS MEDIA AND INJUSTICE IN NIGERIAN LEGAL SYSTEM: A FOCUS ON RAPE

ABSTRACT

Despite decades of feminist activism, men continue to rape women at appalling rates. This research evaluate the failure of the Nigeria to enforce laws to protect women against rape. It also seeks to explain the root causes of rape, it’s also a logical make-up and possibilities for resolving the issue by identifying factors and manifestation that either justify or sanction rape. The flaws in the law’s definition of rape are examined. Women’s action-oriented responses and initiatives against these abuses are highlighted. The analysis contained in the study are based on a mapping process involving the data from a wide range of literature and the study focused on three Nigerian dailies to accurately know if rape cases where reported regularly, the study also gave recommendation on how this violence against women can be reduced.

TABLE OF CONTENT

Title Page  -       -       -       -       -       -       -       -       -       i

Declaration        -       -       -       -       -       -       -       -       ii

Certification        -       -       -       -       -       -       -       -       iii

Dedication -       -       -       -       -       -       -       -       -       iv

Acknowledgement      -       -       -       -       -       -       -       v

Table of Content -       -       -       -       -       -       -       -       vii

Abstract     -       -       -       -       -       -       -       -       -       ix

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1    Background of the Study     -       -       -       -       -       1

1.2    Statement of Problem  -       -       -       -       -       -       8

1.3    Purpose of the Study  -       -       -       -       -       -       11

1.4    Research Questions    -       -       -       -       -       -       12

1.5    Scope of the Study     -       -       -       -       -       -       13

1.6    Significance of the Study     -       -       -       -       -       14

1.7    Limitation of the Study -       -       -       -       -       -       15

1.8    Operational Definition of Terms    -       -       -       -       15

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1    Literature Review        -       -       -       -       -       -       -       17

2.2    Relevant Theories of the Research        -       -       -       -       22

CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1    Research Design -       -       -       -       -       -       -       36

3.2    Method of Data Collection    -       -       -       -       -       36

3.3    Method of Data Analysis      -       -       -       -       -       37

CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS, INTERPRETATION AND DISCUSSION

4.1    Data Analysis     -       -       -       -       -       -       -       38

4.2    Discussion -       -       -       -       -       -       -       -       38

CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

5.1    Summary   -       -       -       -       -       -       -       -       41

5.2    Conclusion -       -       -       -       -       -       -       -       42

5.3    Recommendations      -       -       -       -       -       -       43

        References -       -       -       -       -       -       -       -       45

        Appendices        -       -       -       -       -       -       -       -       54

 

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1   BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

        The most recent report of the African Union on rights and welfare of Nigerian child showed that about 6000 children are in prison and detention across the country. Girls make up less than 10 percent and they mainly come into contract with the law as a result of criminal acts committed against them such as rape, sexual exploitation and trafficking.

        The issue of rape has always been kept in secrecy. Rape is a crime that often times makes the person guilty to go unpunished. Rape is an occurrence which leaves its victims marred for life both physically and emotionally.

        According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, rape is the act of forcing sexual intercourse or other sexual activity up on another person, without their consent and or against their will.

        Rape is the most serious kind of assault and is punishable in Nigeria with imprisonment for life with or without whipping. Okonkwo and Naish (1980) explained that;

“Any person who has unlawful carnal knowledge of a woman or girl without her consent or with her consent if it is obtained by force or means of threat or intimidation of any kind or by fear of harm or by means of false representation as to the nature of the act, or in the case of a married woman, by impersonating her husband is guilty of an offence called rape” . pg 15

        Despite decades of feminist activism, men continue to rape women at appealing rates.

        According to the interview conducted by Information Nigeria with the Veteran Singer Ms. Onyeka Onwenu (2004), she said we do have domestic violence, rape and others but when reported to the police, they would simply say just go and settle it even as far as to the extent of blaming the woman by telling her “eh na you cause am na you dey waka provoke the man” (meaning to say she sexually provoked the man).

        Rape is a crime notable for placing the woman on trial particularly for cultural reasons. She is either charged as a false accuser gold digger, frivolous  or a scorned woman. These stereotypes prevail and sometimes women are their worst accusers. Ndinda (2005:375) highlights this plight thus “indeed, it is a sad indictment of our society that women can come out in public and contemptuously intimate a fellow woman traumatized by rape, while singing praises in support of alleged perpetrator”. (Ndinda 2006:325). The laws casual treatment of rape cases in the subject of Estrich’s (1998:22) pioneering working in which she details American’s attitude toward sex and crime, a crime of violence (not sex) that should be brought into the public sphere and dealt with in the courts. Estrich concludes that over the centuries, not much has changed regarding rape law, perpetrators still get away with impurity, and men still fear they will be blamed for victimizing women. Ironically, this is the same reason for the culture of silence among women victims of rape. Dealing with this becomes problematic as victim blaming in cases of rape and  domestic violence is often used as an excuse of authority figure and males in general to avoid been punished.

        Political and economic conditions in Nigeria, as well as social norms support stereotypical division between men and women. Poorly defined criminal laws and weak law enforcement also create an environment where cases such as rape is committed with impunity (Amnesty International 2006). The adequacy of the law in solving this problem has been women advocates trying to prevent future violence against women by educating the public ensuring that quality services are provided to victims and encourage accountability and perpetrators brought to justice.

        In another research study by Mwanse (2013:8) states, comparing sexual practices of a 12-19 years old student with or without moderate intellectual disabilities in schools done in Oyo State, it was discovered that 63.3% of the sexually experienced intellectually disabled females reported history of rape victimization compared to the 2.9% of the sexually experienced non-disabled females. This shows that many women with intellectual disabilities are being raped constantly and the Nigerian society or justice system has made it almost an impossible desire to have justice prevail over the assailant. This goes to show that rape is a crime that often goes unreported and unpunished in Nigerian society due to the way such cases are treated.

        The UN declaration by Sec. Gen. Kofi Annan (2005:5) specifies that rape, marital rape and sexual abuse are forms of violence against women. Article 2 makes it clear that “physical sexual or psychological acts of violence perpetrated or condoned by the states wherever it occurs” also fall within the violence against women and that states must “refrain from engaging in violence against women (Article 4(b)) and exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate and in accordance with national legislation, punish acts of violence against women whether those acts are perpetrated by the state or by private persons” (Article 4c).

        Rape cases are hardly reported due to the extreme social stigma cast on the woman that has been raped. In some countries like Islamic countries, where adulteries are punishable by law, if a victim comes out with a rape case and lacks sufficient evidence to prosecute the perpetrator of the act, the victim will also be tried and prosecuted for adultery.

        Rape has lead to both physical and psychological trauma on victims. In the case of male on female rape, which is the most common type of rape, the physical effects can be broken down into the following;

GYNAECOLOGICAL EFFECTS

-      Vaginal or anal bleeding, infection could occur after the incident.

-      Vaginal Inflammation

-      Dysparenuia: Painful sexual intercourse.

-      Vaginismus: This is a condition which affects the women’s ability to engage in any form of vaginal penetration.

-      Chronic Pelvic pain.

-      Urinary tract infection.

-      Pregnancy: pregnancy is likely to occur from rape, as often times when rape occurs, there is the absence of the use of contraceptives.

Meanwhile any pregnancy resulting from an encounter with a stranger carries a higher risk of pre-eclampsia, that is the condition in which hypertension arises in pregnancy in association with significant amount of protein in the urine. In 1982, a research done by American society for reproductive medicine discovered that the risk of  pregnancy during rape is the same for that of consensual encounter (2-4%). Also in 1996, there was a longitudinal study in the United States of America which discovered that among 4000 rape victims 5.2% of rape among victims are between the ages of 12-45 resulted in pregnancy each year.

        Sexually transmitted diseases violence or forced sex can increase the risk of transmitting HIV. In forced vaginal penetration, abrasion and cuts commonly occurs, thus facilitating the entry of the virus through the vaginal mucus. Adolescent girls are highly susceptible to HIV infection through forced sex, because their vaginal mucus membrane have not yet acquired barrier that develops in the later teenage years.

PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS

i.             Self blame: rape victims often blame themselves for occurrence of rape, either believing that the incident was their fault through something wrong with them which made them to be raped. This condition can be remedied by cognitive therapy.

ii.            Shame: shame as a result of rape and it has been destructive effect like lack of motivation to seek help, lack of empathy, cutting themselves off from other people, anger and aggression.

iii.          Suicide: Childhood and adulthood victims of rape are more likely to attempt or commit suicide. The experience of being raped can lead to suicide behaviour. In Ethiopia 6% of raped school girls reported having attempted suicide. They also feel embarrassed to talk about what has happened to them with anyone.

1.2   STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

        Nigerian women are forced into various forms of sexual assaults such as rape, indecent assault as incest and defilement.

        In order to leverage the status of women in Nigeria, a lot would have to be done with respect to several laws which give credence to various forms of discrimination against women.

        One discriminatory law in section 176 (5) of the Nigeria Evidence Acts it provides that no conviction will be secured upon the uncorroborated evidence of one witness for certain offense listed in section 218,221,223 or 224 of the criminal code (which is in force in Southern Nigeria). The listed section in the criminal code further provides to the same effect. These offences relates to the defilement of young girls below thirteen years and procurement. Isn’t it rather disturbing that both criminal code and the evidence act would not require corroboration for such sensitive issue such as procurement and defilement and yet would not require any such corroboration for other offences such as theft? This is an obvious indication that the place or status of any woman before the law is less than an ordinary piece of furniture or any other property. It is a deliberate attempt by the law to make such crimes difficult to prove, implying that the courtwould rather easily believe a claim of a stolen property than a claim of procurement and defilement.

        According to the Islamic Sharia Law on the other hand, which is being practiced in several states in Northern Nigeria, requires a practically impossible level of corroboration in other to secure a conviction for the offence of rape. It provides that for a man to be convicted of rape, his accuser must corroborate the claim with four (4) witnesses, this of course is another way of banning any rape case from coming before the court or from succeeding if it is ever brought. This stringent provision sustains the existing patraichy in the society and encourages the continuance of female discrimination and subjugation. It provides a ready escape for perpetrators of the offence of rape.

        In 1976, the government of Pakistan adopted the Zina Ordinance to bring the Penal Code into accord with Islamic principles. Under this ordinance, the women who reported having been raped must prove that the intercourse was without consent. In a situation where they cannot prove it, they are charged with fornication. As a result women are likely not to report rape.

        The effect of rape on a child are also as bad on an adult, if not worse. The harm is both long and short termed.

        For Mackinnon (1993;96) traditional approaches to human right gloss over abuses and since men make rape laws, these laws protect rapist from being punished. Mackinnon argues that sex should never be forced, and once there is force or substantially coercive circumstance between parties, consent to sex should never be used to secure acquittal for perpetrators. Feminist and activism have pointed out that such abuses otherwise are not about sex but a way for the offender to gain a sense of power and control. Yet current discourse on women’s sexually further perpetrates violence against women by legitimizing the use of women bodies for political, cultural and economic gains.

        Nigeria faces a number of problems such as endemic corruption, high unemployment, persistent poverty (estimated at 54.4 percent) and lack of basic medical care. According to the United States Library of Congress (2006), “The poor condition of health care in Nigeria is one of the factors responsible for an average life expectancy of only 47 years. In 2000 only 57 years of the population has access to safe drinking water and slightly lower percentage had access to adequate sanitation. Domestic violence and discrimination against women are widespread because government tolerates customary and religious practices that adversely affect them. Most often the court and police are reluctant to intervene to protect women who accuse their husbands because it is considered a “private matter”.

1.3   PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

        The purpose of this study is to find out how rape cases are handled in Nigeria with the aim of making probable suggestion on how rape victims can be speedy justice from the justice system in Nigeria, as justice delayed can be denied.

        The purpose is also to examine and analyze judgement of rape cases to know how it can be modified to ensure that rape victim get justice from a nation which has been relied upon for fairness and equity. And to achieve this emphasis would be on three Nigeria Newspapers.

1.4   RESEARCH QUESTIONS

        The main question that is asked in this study is how is the Nigerian Justice System treating cases of rape? And what are the cultural justification and application of sanction with regard to rape within Nigeria culture, and what solution in terms of restorative justice on the part of the men may be identified?

        The aim of this research study is to also know the meaning of rape and response to rape with Nigeria government, could there be cultural values that if revived, would lead to a lower prevalence of rape?

Additional Questions include;

i.             Why do Nigerian men rape? (the psychology of rape and sexual violence within Nigeria?

ii.            Are there specific aspects of the Nigeria culture that either promote or justify sexual violence and rape?

iii.          How can we identify relevant African indigenous knowledge which may inform our contemporary understanding and approach to rehabilitation and preventive practices in dealing with men and sexual violence?

iv.          What are the potential rate of Nigeria knowledge within our social institutions today with regards to the development of methodologies to foster balanced justice to victims of rape issues?

1.5   SCOPE OF THE STUDY

        Mass media in Nigeria are always eager to report issues concerning rape cases in Nigeria, but due to injustice in the part of women they shy away from reporting rape cases in mass. This study is focusing on the injustice in the Nigeria justice system on rape related issues.

1.6   SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

        The study is expected to be of use to certain people. These people are those who may have in one way or the other being involved in rape cases whether the victims or the rapist.

        The study would make men take responsibility of their own behaviour and also help them get methods to confront sexually coercive behaviour in others. It would also help in changing men’s beliefs and attitude regarding rape. The study would also reduce men’s actual sexual aggression.

        The women are not left out, because they are the main benefactor of this study, the study would provide information for women about risk-reduction techniques, the impact of rape victims. It would also expose women to self defence and active resistance like biting, scratching, hitting, fleeing, struggling, yelling etc.

        The study would also send information to our government based on their injustice in rape related cases. It would also draw the attention of the government to give listening ears to rape victims in other to help them fight for justice, and also punish the rapist so that some of our growing young ones won’t grow up to become rapist.

1.7   LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

        The study, also had some limitations because of the nature of the study, nobody would want to come out openly to tell that she was raped, it was a difficult task to get information from victims, the information gotten were based on secondary and not primary data because nobody would accept that she was raped.

1.8   OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS

        The researcher study would be defining some terms used in the study.

-      Rape: rape is sex you don’t agree to, including forcing a body part or object into your vagina rectum (bottom) or mouth. There is also;

-      Date rape: it is when you are raped by somebody you know, like a boyfriend. Both are crimes.

Sexual assault: sexual assault and abuse is any kind of sexual activity that you do not agree it includes:

(a)        Inappropriate touching

(b)        Vagina, anal or oral sex

(c)         Sex that you say ‘no’ to

(d)        Rape

(e)        Attempted rape

(f)          Child molestation.

-      Sexual exploitation: it is the sexual abuse of children and youth through the exchange of sex or sexual acts for drugs, food, shelter, protection, other basics of life, and / or money. Sexual exploitations can be example of child prostitution and youth sex trade.

-      Injustice: it is quality relating to unfairness or undeserved outcome. It is also the absence or the opposite of justice.

-      Sexual violence: it refers to sexual activity where consent is not obtained or freely given. It occurs any time the person is forced, coerced or manipulated into any unwanted sexual activity.

-      Domestic violence: violent or aggressive behaviour within the home town, typically involving the violent abuse of a spouse or partner.