Weapons of Rape

There is a new law in Nigeria that I believe everyone needs to be aware of its provisions.  Ignorance is not an excuse in law. It is therefore wise for us to be abreast of relevant laws that are applicable to our every day relation with other people. The provisions in this new  Act are very radical for they address a lot of issues that were previously unattended to in our laws, thereby making a criminal offence many an act considered acceptable in the past.

The Law I'm referring to is the 'Violence Against Persons ( Prohibition) Act, 2015. I'll be sharing the provisions in this Act with us, creating scenarios that will make these provisions easily understandable in layman's language. Take time to follow as I share the provisions of this wonderful Law with you. Knowledge is power. An informed mind is an asset.  You'll never know when the knowledge you acquire will serve you, your loved ones and people in your life right.

The Violence Against Persons ( Prohibition) Act, 2015 prohibits all forms of violence against person in private and public life, and provides maximum protection and effective remedies for victims and punishment of offenders.

Section 1 ( 1) ( a-c) defines Rape thus- A person commits the offence of rape if he or she intentionally penetrates the vagina, anus or mouth of another person with any other part of his or her body or anything else without the consent of that person, or the consent is obtained by force, or means of threat, intimidation of any kind or by fear of harm,  or by means of false and fraudulent representation as to the nature of the act, or the use of any substance or additive capable of taking away the will of such person, or in the case of a married person, by impersonating his or her spouse.

To interpret these in layman's language, it is not only when a man penetrates a woman's vagina with his sexual organ without her consent that he is guilty of raping her, it is also rape when he uses other parts of his body like finger, big toes, tongue, etc to penetrate her vagina. It is rape even if he uses objects like stick, fruits etc to violate her. The definition of rape had been extended to include these things because victims violated in the past with these things could not be said to have been raped since the law's definition of rape mentioned only sexual organs. But with this new law, such victims can get justice in a court of law as victims of rape.

Also, consent given out of force, coercion, threat, false representation ( e.g telling a minor that sticking a carrot in her vagina is not a sexual act), fraudulent representation (e.g telling a girl that if you have sex with her, she will be cured of menstrual pain), fear of harm, the use of alcohol, drugs and other harmful substance  and so on. Impersonating (that is pretending to be) the husband or wife of someone and having sex with him/her while doing so is a criminal offence of rape.

Consent given in all the circumstances listed above is no consent under the law. It is considered to be taking undue advantage of the victim involved. We can all see that the crime of rape is much more than when the victim did not give consent. Consent fraudulently got qualifies as rape through the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2015.

Life is to be enjoyed and not to be endured!