Sexual Abuse: Where’s safe for children?

Persistent cases of sexual abuse of children has had child protectors, parents and law officers scratching their heads for solutions. Our correspondent in Sokoto reports on the prevalence of these cases and how children are often victims in places where they should be safe. A few days ago, a 15-year-old Arabic schoolgirl, who was allegedly […]

Persistent cases of sexual abuse of children has had child protectors, parents and law officers scratching their heads for solutions. Our correspondent in Sokoto reports on the prevalence of these cases and how children are often victims in places where they should be safe.

A few days ago, a 15-year-old Arabic schoolgirl, who was allegedly raped by seven men in Sokoto South Local Government Area, gave birth to a baby girl.

Following the gang rape, the teenager’s parents rejected her and sent away from home.

“Some good Nigerians who saw her on the street brought her to our office,” Commandant Sokoto State Hisbah Commission Dr Adamu Bello Kasarawa said. “So by the time we investigated, we came to know what happened to her, we searched for all seven culprits, we got them and arrested them.”

The women wing of the Hisbah Commission took care of the teenager up to the point she delivered  at Specialist Hospital, Sokoto.

From the incestuous father, such as Kaduna’s Muhammed Isah Saleh, who is standing trial for allegedly defiling his two daughters, to other familiar faces and strangers, reports on sexual abuse of children and young girls from across the country dot the media landscape.

In Ogun State, men of the state Police Command early this month arrested a 50-year-old man for defiling his 13-year-old stepdaughter.

A 40-year-old man was in January this year arrested for allegedly raping a 14-year-old epileptic girl who was by the riverside at Ososo community of Edo State.

Many children have continued to face sexual violence, most of which are not reported, which the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) describes as a gross violation of their rights.

“Children should feel safe at home, in school, in their communities,” UNICEF said in its report. “But it is in these places that most violence against children happen, often at the hands of the people they see every day. For many children, violence wears a familiar face.”

In a study on prevalence and pattern of sexual assault in Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, about two thirds (61.8 per cent) of victims affected by sexual assault are young children aged 12 and below.

In two-thirds of the cases, acquaintances or family members are the assailants.

“You find this issue of rape of young girls and teenagers between the age of 5 – 16 cuts across all the 23 local government areas. Just Friday, we received a case of a young girl sent with her junior ones to Fadama to harvest mango, and somebody raped her on the farm. It is rampant,” the Sokoto Hisbah Commandant said.

He said sexual abuse is perpetrated mostly by men between age 35 to 70, adding that very few, such as the drug addicts, political thugs between the ages of 25 and 35 are also involved in the act while community leaders are often perpetrators too.

“We look at the offence; we don’t mind whosoever you are,” the commandant said. “We caught an Imam, who raped two girls. He is now in prison. We also have one malam who teaches in a mosque, we also caught him, for abusing a seven-year-old boy. He is in prison.”

Worldwide, around 15 million girls between 15 to 19 have experienced forced sex in their lifetime, UNICEF statistics indicate.

For legal practitioner Rashidah Mohammed, rape is a grievous offence for which she blames a whole lot of people.

“We have heard of many traditional rulers, dignitaries etc. compromising rape cases. Some of the rapists use money to compromise instances of rape, and even some security agents are fond of doing that.   The society is too quiet, and the victims are not speaking up because of the stigma attached,” she said.

She also blames the belief that rape victims will not find suitable husbands for the silence.

“The rapist is already aware that his victim would not expose him because of the fear for the future,” she said.

On what a rape survivor should do, she asserts: “Don’t wash the substance; rush the child to the hospital/nearby police station; wait for the child to be examined; report to a legal practitioner,” she said.

Failure to do that, she warns, will compromise the case against the rapist.

However, she also faults the law saying, “It is my opinion that our criminal laws favour the accused more than victims, looking at the constitutional provision of sections 36 (5) the phrase ‘presumption of innocence’. And 36 (6)(6) the phrase ‘adequate time and facilities.”

“While the former is saying the accused is innocent until proven guilty, the latter is saying the accused be given enough time to prepare for his defence and also be given a copy of any evidence intended to be used against him and the names of witnesses that will be called at the hearing,” she said.

The implication, she said, is handing the initiative to the rapist.

Child rights advocate, Abdulganiyu Abubakar, Chief Executive, Save the- Child Initiative STCI, said the government needs to do more.

“Because Sokoto State has not been able to pass the Child’s Right Act, our efforts are challenged,” he said. “Not much is being done about victims compensation. In a lot of instances, the lives of the survivors are destroyed, self-esteem is affected, and sometimes they may need to relocate to be able to continue their lives.”

Abubakar urged rehabilitation for both survivors and offenders and assured that they would continue to mobilise communities to prevent the menace.

Special Adviser to the Governor on Human Rights and Donor Agencies, Ubaida Bello underscored the need for protection of children in any society especially orphans and vulnerable people.

For Commandant Kasarawa, “Government should empower security agencies, especially the state security outfits, Hisbah commission in charge of sanitising the society of crimes and social vices. They should empower us to get rid of all these things. I am happy the child protection law is being developed. It will take care of some of these menaces- the children not going to school, dropouts, hawking.”

He believes with the right equipment and facilitation, his commission can rid the state of such crimes.

For parents like Hajiya Amina Aliyu, enlightenment, especially in the rural areas where such cases are rampant, is needed to curtail it and the negative impacts of sexual abuse on minors.

Such negative impact, Barrister Rashidah identifies, to include shame, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, self-esteem issues, chronic pelvic pain, addiction, suicidal thinking and propensity to re-victimisation in adulthood.

“We must not wait until it affects us before we act. If we think it doesn’t affect us, it is already happening in our houses; a child belongs to everybody, let us stand firm to speak up against child abuse.”

“Let us try to expose the perpetrators even if they are our loved ones. When a child is raped, her innocence is taken away; her pride is taken away,” she said.

With rhethorics like these, one can only hope the outrage will translate to actions that could save many children from abuse.