Slow dispensation of justice frustrating trial of sex offenders – Gender experts

Doosuur Iwambe, Abuja

Gender experts have decried the slow dispension of justice in Nigeria saying, its frustrate trial of sexual violence offenders.

The experts lamented that the development has stalled the progress of eliminating gender based violence cases as most offenders are not being sanctioned to serve as detriment to others.

The Desk Officer, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Sexual and Gender Based Violence Response, Ngozi Ike, lamented that out of the 444 reported cases of sexual offences in Nigeria, only one conviction this year.

Speaking during a four day media dialogue on Ethical Reporting and Advocacy to Eliminate Violence against Women and girls in the FCT, organized by Spotlight Initiative Nigeria, she said, it was not good enough.

She therefore called for the establishment of special courts to hasten trial of such cases.

She said; “We lack special courts in Nigeria to hear such delicate cases. When you take these cases to the regular courts, they linger for a long period of time and this is not good at all.

“If we can push for the establishment of special courts that will preside over sexual and domestic violence cases, it will give justice to survivors.

“We did it during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and within a short period of time, mobile courts were set up to try violators of the COVID-19 guidelines”.

Earlier, Protection Officer, United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, Tochie Odele, in her presentation said, about 30% of girls who have experienced sexual violence in Nigeria before the age of 15 years.

She said 1 in 4 girls have experienced sexual violence , which according to her is now worse because of the coronavirus locked down.

She lamented that it was quite unfortunate that 19% of girls are married before they get to the age of 15 years old.

And the majority of these girls , she said, experience violence at home and it is rarely an isolated incident. Most of the girls that are raped are people that are either close to them or well known to them.

According to her, most of the girls don’t report their abuse because they are scared of causing problems and stigmatization.

She said girls with disabilities are twice likely to experience violence of any form.

Odele, who decried non signing of Child Right Acts, by 13 states out of 36 states in Nigeria, this has made violence against girls worse.

She lamented that most of the states that are yet to sign the Child Right Acts are in the northern part of Nigeria

In his welcome remarks , the Chief Child Protector , UNICEF, Ibrahim Sesay, said as media practitioners you need to have strategic partnership on issues surrounding women and girls with stakeholders.

“To move and ascertain those results we have committed some funds globally to mitigate issues on violence against women and girls.

“The voice of the media is powerful but it has to be ethical in nature, privacy of survival. We must not expose the images of survival that could embarrass or re-victimise them”, he noted.