Nigeria: CEPA is set to eliminate all forms of abuse

Centre for the Protection of the Abused (CEPA) is committed to providing protection to victims of abuse and to those vulnerable to abuse. The specific objective is to eliminate all forms of abuse against women by promoting the rights of women and the equality of men and women in line with the United Nation Millennium Development Goal.

CEPA has mapped out strategies on how its goals and objectives could be achieved. The issues of women are better addressed by women with enormous support from men. With the aid of research work, so many areas of abuse have been uncovered and this makes the problem easier to address. Using Nigeria as a case study, the prevalent forms of abuse are child/forced marriages, child labour, domestic servitude, forced prostitutions, domestic violence, forced/cheap labour, baby harvesting, forced organ transplant, heinous widowhood rites, rape and human trafficking.

Several legal instruments have been put in place to curb the abuse of women both at the international and local level. Some of these instruments have been ratified by the Nigerian Government while others have been incorporated into the Nigerian Laws of the Federation. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979), the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (1999), UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (the Palermo Protocol) (2000), and the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in African (2003) have been ratified by the Nigerian Government. So also the law on human trafficking (Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Law Enforcement and Administration Act) was enacted in 2003 by the Nigerian National Assembly while the bill on domestic violence is yet to be passed into law.

However, with these legal instruments on ground the cases of abuse are mounting high every now and then with nobody to checkmate. The reasons for this loophole are not farfetched and some of them are;

• Lack of enforcement: Generally, law enforcement agents are ill equipped and lack the technical know-how and gender sensitivity to handle cases of abuse. The law is just like a toothless bulldog because of its weak legal frame work and lack of implementation.
• Corruption of enforcement agents: Law enforcement agents are usually reluctant to investigate cases of abuse against women, especially those unable to bribe the investigating officers or pay for the cost of investigations. Thus, perpetrators of rape, sexual assault, domestic violence and human trafficking largely go unpunished in Nigeria.
• The categories of people involve. The categories of people involve in situations of abuse affect the enforcement of the laws. Majority of people who abuse their victims are in one way or the other related to the victim either by affinity or by consanguinity. This makes it hard to punish or even report the abuser to the law enforcement agencies. Again, some law enforcement agents view women abuse as a petty issue that need not to be taken seriously.
• The customs and traditions of the people: There is this traditional belief that, women are created to be subservient to men and so do not have the voice of their own. Women therefore must submit to the wish of others even against their rights as human beings. So reporting a family member is quickly summarised as lack of submissiveness to the traditionally constituted authority.
• Inability to address the root cause: Various world governments have not been able to tackle the root cause of abuse which is poverty. Poverty is a primary causative agent of abuse. For example, trafficking of women for prostitution is because of the huge financial gain in it. If poverty is unbearable people will be forced to indulge in exploiting others.
• Ownership rights: Another factor is the problem of ownership. Some people who believe they own others either by affinity or consanguinity tend to abuse such responsibility. A husband to the wife, parent to child, employer to employee etc. In other words, the customary rite of paying bride price has caused more harm than good to the rights of women, because it gives undue sense of ownership over women. It has caused the enslavement of women to their husbands. All these interwoven causative factors have constituted to the ineffectiveness of the legal framework. Looking at these inadequacies of the existing legal structures, CEPA has come in to fill up these loopholes by proffering solutions and providing other channels of curbing abuse.

CEPA is committed to putting up advocacy campaign by working closely with the policy making bodies in the country. To ensure that strong legal framework is put in place. It will also assist in facilitating the passing of the bill on domestic violence, while initiating another bill on the abolition of paying of bride price (Indians are agitating for its abolition) and other detrimental traditions, to reduce the enslavement of women in their homes.

CEPA intends to support women who are unable to pay for the cost of investigation by providing all necessary free legal services. It will also serve as a watchdog against corrupt officers who contravene the rules and compromise their integrity in the course of their duties.

CEPA wishes to organise sanitization and sensitization campaigns, creating awareness on these areas of abuse by hosting rallies, workshops, seminars and conferences to re-orientate people on the dangers of abuse. Rather than perceiving it as petty and the agitation uncalled for. The most demanding task of CEPA will be the establishment of shelters for the rehabilitation of fatal victims of abuse. It is an avenue of ensuring their safety from further attacks. This provision will be rendered to the victims, until they are able to overcome the psychological and physical trauma of abuse.

Corroborating with other organisations that work towards achieving the same goal, to form a formidable coalition group will also be another strategy to pull down the structure of abuse. These and other more strategies will be put in place by CEPA to make sure that the abuse of women is eradicated. The rate of abuse is at its barest minimum in developed countries and if these other countries are able to achieve it, I guess in no time the African countries will be no exception.