The VAPP Act: Function and Efficacy in Enugu State.

The offence of physical and sexual assault in Nigeria is a prevalent socio-cultural phenomenon that has affected the reasonable progress and development of society. In a patriarchal system prevalent in the nation, the notion of male dominance is not alien to our system; hence the concept of male chauvinism has been upheld for years.

Consequently, this has the effect of desensitizing society towards some ills. The offences of sexual or physical violence encompass what is known today as Gender-based violence which includes rape, sexual harassment and domestic abuse. According to UNICEF report of 2015 one in four girls and one in ten boys in Nigeria had experienced sexual violence before the age of 18. The same report in 2020 shows that over 90% of the rape cases reported in the media were females, with 99% of the rapist, males. In these cases, a third of the female victims were aged between 1 and 10; those between 11 and 20 years constituted 46.1% of the victims while victims aged 21–30 made up 8.4%.

On a larger scale, World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2021 stated that an estimated 736 million women have been subjected to intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or both at least once in their life (30 per cent of which are aged 15 and older).

Most violence against women is perpetrated by current or former husbands or intimate partners. And more than 640 million women aged 15 and older have been subjected to intimate partner violence (26 per cent of women aged 15 and older).

Of those who have been in a relationship, almost one in four adolescent girls aged 15 to 19 (24 per cent) have experienced physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner or husband. Added to that number, sixteen per cent of young women aged 15 to 24 experienced this violence in the past 12 months.

In 2018, an estimated one in seven women had experienced physical and/or sexual violence from an intimate partner or husband in the past 12 months (13 per cent of women aged 15 to 49) making the toll very disturbing and a scene we cannot sideline any longer.

THE ENACTMENT

In 2015, the Nigerian National Assembly passed into law the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act (VAPP) Bill.

The Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) bill was enacted because of its necessity and will introduce several improvements in the fight against rape in the country. The enactment has strengthened the laws prohibiting sexual harassment and provided a mechanism through which sexual assault victims can be compensated, a feature that was alien under the former applicable laws.

The act has increased the scope of rape to now encompass both genders, male and female. Under the former laws, only women could be victims of rape. However, currently, the Act in its opening section defined the offence of rape to include “unlawful penetration of a man or women.”

This innovative provision recognizes that all genders are susceptible to sexual assault and has made provisions for the protection of all.

Secondly, the act has also made provisions for the compensation of rape victims. Under the Act, rape victims are entitled to financial compensation as a way of rebuilding their lives and obtaining the necessary help needed in doing so.

The act has also introduced the Sex Offenders List which is documentation of all reported or convicted cases of sexual violation or abuse perpetrators. This system allows the relevant government authorities to track the activities and residence of such offenders.

Furthermore, it has now been made an offence for a person to administer a substance, such as date drugs, to another without consent, to overpower such person to engage in sexual activity with that person.

ENUGU STATE AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION

The Enugu state government has taken a leaf from the National Assembly’s page and in a bid to strengthen its campaign against sexual harassment recognized the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Law in 2019, an adaptation of the federal enactment, and made it binding on the state.

The passage of the bill into law is the first step in recognizing the efforts of the various human rights groups in the state which have fought tirelessly to protect and preserve the dignity of women and victims of sexual assault in the state such as the Women Aid Collective (WACOL).

It has also gone further to amplify the voices of these organizations and has provided an equitable legal framework under which offenders can be convicted for horrendous offences related to sexual assault.

Consequently, it was based on this law that Justice Chinyere Ani of the Enugu State High Court demanded in 2020, the establishment of a juvenile remand and bolster homes for perpetrators to effectively implement the Law’s insistence on justice and punishment of offenders.

It is important to state at this point that the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Law not only applies to cases of sexual abuse but also applies to physical violence- domestic or otherwise, against persons. As evidenced in its preamble, it aims to “eliminate violence in private and public life, and prohibit all forms of violence against persons.”

In Enugu and indeed Nigeria at large, the debilitating menace called domestic and gender-based violence remains a huge problem. While gender-based violence, as the name suggests, is violence targeted to another based on gender (usually targeted towards women), domestic violence is often a confrontation between family or household members that usually involves physical harm, sexual assault or apprehension of physical harm.

It is reported that in over 95% of the reported cases of domestic violence in Nigeria, men are the assailants, perhaps due to the age-long patriarchal view that men are stronger than women, leading to an invariable assumption that the only way to assert dominance, is by physical domination. Inadvertently, some cultural practices and norms in the nation encourage violent acts against women.

Because of this, relevant state actors have come out to speak against this disturbing trend, and the Enugu State Government has taken administrative and legislative steps to curb these acts.

In April of this year, the State’s First Lady Her Excellency, Mrs Monica Ugwuanyi lent her voice to the campaign against domestic violence in the state, calling for an “all-inclusive and sustained crusade to stem domestic violence and sexual abuse against women in the society.”

Also, the Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi in May of this year inaugurated a committee on the prevention of gender-based violence in the state. According to the Terms of Reference of their formation “It is the responsibility of the committee to develop and implement programmes and policies geared towards the prevention of gender-based violence in the state”.

Cases of Violence

In place of the foregoing, it is not far from the imaginative mind the true impact and development the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Law has in the fight against violence in the state.

For instance, Section 2(1) of the law states that “a person who willingly causes or inflicts physical injury on another person using any weapon, substance or object commits an offence.” The Law went further to state the prescribed punishment for the offence.

An instance of a reprimandable act of domestic violence is the gruesome act of Mr and Mrs Ozougwu in the grievous injuring and maltreatment of their guardian Nneoma Nnamdi, earlier this year. The incident which happened in July 2020, saw the infliction of various degrees of injuries on the little child, aged 10, that eventually led to her being hospitalized.

The Enugu state government, in its fight against domestic violence, seriously condemned the act and vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice. The hospital bill of the victim was paid by the State government who promised to ensure that every child in Enugu State is protected, has access to education, reasonable healthcare where their right to life is guaranteed.

Hence the adoption of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) law in Enugu state has strengthened the law regarding the protection of children and has guaranteed the upholding of the sanctity of human life.

The law in this regard is expected to consolidate the Child Rights Act which is another important legislation in the country safeguarding the rights and privileges enjoyed by children in the country. The combined effects of these laws are the resultant prioritization of the rights and interests of children in the State.

IMPORTANCE OF THE ENACTMENT

The Enactment of the Violence Against Persons Act and the subsequent adoption by the Enugu state government is a welcomed contribution to the progress and development of our legal system.

The adoption of the law and the conspicuous effort of the Enugu state government towards the enforcement of the law together with the commitment towards the protection of all gender have the combined effort of securing and strengthening the principle of the rule of law.

Hence, these acts bring us one step close towards safeguarding the protection of the female gender and the realization of equality among all sexes, and several steps closer to holding perpetrators of these violent acts, in the state and beyond to justice.

Written by Sedo Elijah Ebinne