FIDA seeks speedy passage of violence against Persons Prohibition Bill

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(Nigeria) Mrs Hauwa Shekarau, President, Federation of Women Lawyers, FIDA, has  called on the National Assembly to pass the Violence against Persons Prohibition Bill to tackle increase in sexual violence.
Shekarau, who made the call on Thursday in Abuja in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria, said the growing rate of sexual violence in the country was due to the high level of impunity in the country.
She said more disturbing was the issue of incest which had been on the increase in recent times.
She said that until urgent steps were taken to prosecute the perpetrators, the rate of the crime would continue to increase in the society.
The president expressed regrets that some parents who should be custodians of their children were involved in such heinous crime against their children, particularly their female children.
``It’s so sad talking about the issue of sexual violence; the problem is that the rate of impunity is increasing in our country. There is a law against incest and our traditional and moral values condemn incest and, yet, it is still going on.
``In fact, it is on the increase. The reason is simply because there is a growing rate of impunity in this country. People do what they want to do, irrespective of whether it is against the law or not; they are doing it because they know nobody will charge them to court or do anything to them,’’ she said.
``We should make sure that laws are obeyed. When people are not brought to book or punished according to the dictates of the laws, they will take things casually knowing that they can go unpunished.’’
Shekarau warned that if urgent steps were not taken to nip the problem in the bud, the moral fabrics of the society would collapse.
She called on law-enforcement agencies to rise up to the challenge and prosecute people who commit rape and incest, and defile children.
The president said that on no account should rapists be allowed to go free.
She said that rape victims were sometimes asked to settle out of court because their crime was assumed as a family matter.
``Until our law-enforcement agents begin to see this as a crime, irrespective of who committed it, impunity will continue. By the time people who commit the offence of rape and incest are effectively prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to prison, people will rethink before committing such crime,” she said

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