Violation of the lambs: Dilemma of rape victims
ALL over the world, Nigeria inclusive, statistics of children victims of s3x abuse is growing. Unfortunately most of the cases are not reported because they are carried out by people who know the victims intimately. Coupled with that is the fear of stigmatisation. For the victims, therefore, the act never took place.
Mrs Chinyere Eyoh, who is now the Executive Director, s3xual Offences Awareness and Victims Rehabilitation Initiative (SOAR) and the FCT Coordinator of the Network of Civil Societies against Child Trafficking and Abuse, is a victim of such abuse. She tells her story to Sunday Tribune.
“I was a victim of s3xual abuse by an uncle who came to visit when I was four years old. That was the first time. I never told my parents about it and two years later, my father brought his younger brother to come live with us in Lagos. Again, this uncle started abusing me and it went on for about 7-8 years under my parents’ nose.
“That is why I tell parents that it is not really a question of whether you work or stay at home; s3xual abuse is a function of the information you have and how you protect your children, because most times children are vulnerable to those who are supposed to protect them.
“I understand first-hand the pain that every victim goes through and it is not something I like remembering and that is why I am doing my best to help victims,” she said.
Mrs Eyoh was lucky that she was able to rise above her gory experience, but many other victims might not be so lucky. For five-year-old Peace, life could not be more unpleasant. She lives with her father and stepmother in Akwanga, Nasarawa State, after losing her biological mother during child birth. Her mother’s death was a significant turnaround as she was termed an “Ogbanje.” She was often seen playing alone and whenever she tried to move close to her step-siblings, she would be avoided like a plague. She neither attended school nor got motherly care like other children.
There is also Helen, a 12-year-old girl, who was repeatedly raped by her stepfather who vowed to deal with her if she ever told anyone. Helen got pregnant and was sent out of the house by her stepfather with the support of her biological mother. She went around with the burden until hope came her way through an NGO which took up her case.
These and a countless number of cases have continued to happen to children on a daily basis with little or no efforts by the government to put a stop to the menace except NGOs and other stakeholders which have continued to fight for the cause.
Violence, in clear terms is a behaviour involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something. This could come in different forms ranging from domestic and s3xual violence, child labour, among others.
In Nigeria, the rate at which minors are being violated s3xually, according to reports, is increasing on a daily basis. The psychological effects they suffer and the implication for the society generally has led to the springing up of different child’s rights activists in the country.
The shocking rape of a six-months-old baby in Kano recently that left the nation in shock further reinforced the call by experts to tighten security around minors against child s3xual exploitation.
The defilement of the baby, no doubt, touched the heart of Nigeria’s First Lady, Mrs Aisha Buhari and the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi, both of whom visited the victim in hospital and expressed shock at the incident.
According to statistics from the National s3xual Violence Resource Centre (NSVRC), one in four girls and one in six boys will be s3xually abused before they turn 18 years old, while 34 per cent of people who s3xually abuse a child are family members. Also, 12.3 per cent of women were age 10 or younger at the time of their first rape victimisation.
The statistics also stated that about 325,000 children are at risk of becoming victims of commercial child s3xual exploitation each year while the average age at which girls first become victims of prostitution is 12 to 14 years old, and the average age for boys is 11 to 13 years old.
On 20th November 1989, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), whilst the OAU Assembly of Heads of States and Governments adopted the African Union Charter on the Rights and other forms of violence.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) outlines the human rights to be respected and protected for every child under the age of 18 years and requires that these rights are implemented.
It is worthy to noted that the Act basically stated the Provisions of freedom from discrimination on the grounds of belonging to a particular community or ethnic group, place of origin, s3x, religion, the circumstances of birth, disability, deprivation or political opinion; and it is stated categorically that the dignity of the child shall be respected at all times.
That:” No Nigerian child shall be subjected to physical, mental or emotional injury, abuse or neglect, maltreatment, torture, inhuman or degrading punishment, attacks on his/her honour or reputation.
Unfortunately, the adoption of the CRA as a means of ending all forms of violence against children is still moving at a slow pace. As at 2016, 23 out of the 36 States in Nigeria have domesticated the Child’s Right Act (CRA).
Most of the states yet to domesticate the CRA are in the North and they include Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, among others.
Also, according to the survey by the National Population Commission, NPC, with support from UNICEF and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention 9 million Nigerian children were exposed to some form of violence.
A life of pain and a code of silence
The survey found that childhood violence has a long term impact that lasts well into adulthood, including poorer mental and physical health outcomes. Individuals who experienced physical and s3xual violence in childhood were also significantly more likely to perpetrate intimate partner violence.
Therefore, for children and/or young adults who suffered such ruinous abuses, getting over such becomes a serious issue, as they carry the burden far into their lives, especially as they have had to keep silent and unable to relive themselves of the burden by sharing their experience with parents of friends because of fear of stigmatisation.
Mrs Eyoh provided insight into why victims often keep mum about the traumatic experience. According to her, “they [victims] often do not report such cases as they are usually not believed.” She pointed out that failure of parents to understand the psychological and emotional developments of their children is one critical factor responsible for the inability of victims to share their experiences with their parents. As such, parents, she said, sometimes, do not understand their children while children are also confused as to how to describe what was happening to them.
She told Sunday Tribune further that in her case she kept mum about the issue as a result of what she described as over-sympathetic conscience.
“In my own case, I have what I call the over-sympathetic conscience like if I tell what my uncle was doing to me, they will chase him out of the house and everybody will say it is because of me that he was chased out.
“The stigmatisation makes parents not to take action in ensuring that the abusers do not do it again. So, these and many other factors are what make children vulnerable and make them keep quiet when they are abused.
“I have healed and that is why I am effective at what I do. I am no longer a victim; I have overcome it and the only passion for me is let it not happen to another child because so many people are not as fortunate as I am to have overcome it so well and be thriving in my husband’s house. He knows what happened to me and has not stigmatised or called me a useless woman; not all victims get this opportunity,” she said.
Eyoh also noted instances where perpetrators most times threaten victims with death.
“I have met so many victims who tell me that their uncles are abusing them but have threatened to kill them if they told anybody and they become afraid that something will happen to them or their parents. Also because it has happened several times, they do not know how to begin to tell their parents, so they just keep quiet,” she stated further while calling for more sensitisation on issues relating to child abuses and the need for victims to speak up.
“There are series of things that need to take place if this must stop, everybody playing their part, continuous sensitization, and victims need to be assured that when they speak up their story is not sensationalised.
“There is a need for reassurance to victims that their case will be handled confidentially and instead perpetrators should be exposed so they can know that there are consequences for their actions.
“If Nigerians understand that this is a problem there would be much awareness, funding and energy should be put in creating awareness most especially in the grassroots where they do not have enough information.
“The law enforcement agencies also need sensitisation and training because today in the juvenile welfare centres, police officers don’t like being sent there. We don’t have people with professional skills handling that department and when cases are brought there, girls who are almost 18 years old are insulted if they were abused,” she said.
According to President of Jose Foundation, an NGO dedicated to child right, Prince Martins Abhulimhen, the Child s3xual Exploitation (CSE) may not actually be a ‘Nigerian Phenomenon’ the prevalence of abuse of minors in the country has become alarming.”
“Not even the Child Rights Act (2003) has been able to deter the evil doers from crying out heinous crimes against innocent minors in the country, worse is that some states are finding hard to domesticate the Act due factors centred around religion, culture and lack of political will.
“The situation has not only affected many psychologically, but has also threatened the future of millions of children around the country. To address the issue of CSE in the country, Jose Foundation has been carrying series of public awareness on how parents can protect their children from falling into the hands of s3xual exploiters.
“This includes advocacy, creating awareness, trainings and international diplomacy to draw attention of leaders worldwide to the plights of the vulnerable in the society,” he said.
To this end, he disclosed that the Foundation through the Nigerian mission in the United Kingdom recently submitted a training proposal to several ministries in Nigeria including the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social development.
The workshop according to him will bring together stakeholders in Nigeria to discuss child s3xual exploitation, its implications to Nigeria and how it can be tackled.
“We have taken responsibility to work with the Nigerian government to tackle CSE and that is why we choose to submit our programme details for government scrutiny and full participation,” he said.
However, as more NGOs and child right groups get more interested in s3xual violence against minors in the country, it is expected that things might change, only if the right things are done especially in the area of sensitisation and befitting punishment for offenders.
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