Rape as a sexual violence, is a crime that occurs across the globe with women and girls mostly affected.
This is known to leave far-reaching physical, psychological and social effects on the victims for a very long time.
There is the need to take concrete actions to tackle the issue of rape with the seriousness it deserves, because most of such cases thrive in secrecy due to stigma around victims, resulting in underreporting.
Reports of sexual violence and abuse against women and girls appear to be on the rise in Ekiti State and Nigeria at large in recent times, despite several actions taken by the state and other stakeholders to combat the act.
The menace reared its ugly head again in Ekiti State recently when the State Commissioner of Police, Mr Joseph Eribo, at a news conference said about 12 cases of rape were recorded in the state by the police within four months (January to April).
Eribo, who assumed office as the new Commissioner of Police in the state early this year, said the police also recorded successes by arresting perpetrators of other crimes within the period under review.
The ugly development has continued unabated in spite of appropriate and comprehensive laws already put in place by the state government against offenders and perpetrators of rape and other forms of sexual violence.
These laws, which define various sexual offences and prescribe penalties for those found guilty, include the Gender-Based Violence (Prohibition) Law, the reviewed Criminal Code Law, which provided added sanctions against paedophiles, the Sexual Violence against Children (Compulsory Treatment and Care) Law, and the Child’s Rights Law among others.
Other state government-enabled strategic policies are the ‘Name and Shame’ policy for convicted sex offenders, opening of a register for sex offenders and rejection of applications from convicted sex offenders seeking to benefit from the governor’s powers of prerogative of mercy.
Reeling out the rape cases, Mr Eribo said one Bamidele Sesan in January this year, reported a case of alleged rape against one 30-year-old Oladunjoye Damilola at Oye Ekiti Police division on behalf of a 5-year-old victim (name withheld).
He said the suspect was said to have lured the victim to his room and had carnal knowledge of her.
Also, the police boss said, a case of defilement was reported in February at Ilupeju division by one Saka Salamotu of Ikere-Ekiti on behalf of a 9-year-old victim (name withheld) against one 17-year-old Jonathan Seun.
The suspect lured the victim to his room where he sexually assaulted her.
One Daniel Ademola (15) of Ado-Ekiti was also arrested in February by the police for allegedly defiling a 4-year-old girl in Ado Ekiti, the state capital.
The case was reported by one Abioye Olamiotan of Ado-Ekiti on behalf of the victim. The suspect allegedly lured the little girl to an isolated place in the Okeila area and took advantage of her.
The CP said the suspect confessed to the alleged crime and was subsequently charged to court.
These are few instances of the many rape cases reported to the Police in Ekiti.
Some of the suspects, according to the Police boss, had already been charged to court while others would be charged as soon as the investigations are completed.
Residents have expressed worries over the sudden rise in cases of sexual-related offences and want the relevant authorities to take urgent action to reverse the ugly trend. This is more disturbing as most of the victims are minors.
In October 2024, UNICEF estimated that more than 370 million girls and women – or 1 in 8 – experienced rape or sexual assault before the age of 18.
“When ‘non-contact’ forms of sexual violence, such as online or verbal abuse are included, the number of girls and women affected rises to 650 million globally – or 1 in 5, underscoring the urgent need for comprehensive prevention and support strategies to effectively address all forms of violence and abuse,” the UN body stated.
Also, a United Nations statistical report covering 65 countries, according to a Journal of the National Medical Association, December 2023, showed that more than 250,000 cases of rape or attempted rape were recorded annually with women and girls being majority of victims.
“Nearly 1 in 5 women have been raped or have been victims of attempted rape in their lifetime with about 98 percent of perpetrators being male.
“The prevalence of rape in sub-Saharan Africa is between 15-40 percent. In Nigeria, it is 11-55 percent and in Southwest Nigeria, it varies between 4-9.2 percent among adolescents,” the report said.
There are individual reports which showed a sharp rise in the incidence of child rape in Nigeria.
On what the state government is doing to curb the menace of rape in the state, the commissioner for Information, Taiwo Olatunbosun said laws and penalties have always been put in place against all forms of sexual offences in the state.
He said the laws which include Gender-Based Violence (Prohibition) Law, the reviewed Criminal Code Law, Child Rights Law, among others, would be made more effective than ever to ensure that sex offenders are punished.
The commissioner also said that the government would come up with a robust sensitisation against rape and other sexual violence across the state, stressing the need for the people to always report such cases for necessary actions.
“The ‘name and shame’ policy for convicted sex offenders, opening of a register for sex offenders and no benefit from the governor’s powers of prerogative of mercy for such offenders being spearheaded by the Ministry of Justice and treatment for sexual violence survivors and victims at the State Sexual Assault Referral Centre are still in operation,” he stated.
Speaking with LEADERSHIP Sunday in Ado Ekiti, on what to do to stem the tide of the spike in rape cases in the state, the executive director, Gender Relevance Initiative Promotion (GRIP), Rita Ilevbare stressed the need for parents to focus on sensitising their children.
Ilevbare said, “This is the time to also empower children more than ever for them to know because some of them don’t even know what is happening to them or the nature of what is being done with their body (genitals). We should be able to tell children what is penis, vagina and which part of their body cannot just be touched anyhow by anybody. We need to empower our children to be able to speak out, with information that there are ‘no-go-areas on their body.
“Before sexual violence takes place, the perpetrators strategises, especially for children. They may not just go straight at once but may start with inappropriate touching and stuff like that. This is not the time we allow anybody to be calling our daughters ‘my wife.” No. A child cannot be a wife. This should be emphasised in the schools as well as in the religious houses.”
She maintained that the boy-child should also be taught and encouraged on expected behaviours in the society adding that, “This is not the time to tell a boy that when a woman says no, she means yes. No means no.”
Ilevbare called on those saddled with the responsibility of responding to sexual offences to intensify efforts on prevention and when it happens, they should make sure that justice is served.
Similarly, a cleric and a mother, Prophetess Oluwayemisi Ajiye said indecent dressing among young ladies and drug abuse on the part of young men were partly responsible for incidences of rape.
She said most ladies in the name of ‘dressing to kill’ go out half-naked which makes them susceptible to being raped.
“Some of our male youths are always into hard drugs which makes them to boldly go into crimes including raping their female friends, colleagues or even minors.
“So, young ladies and even women should ensure that they dress decently and avoid wearing clothes that are transparent, show off sensitive parts of their bodies and those that are too tight on their bodies in order not to expose themselves to rape. Young men should also run away from taking hard drugs and be mindful of antisocial behaviours in the society,” she admonished.
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