Universally, rape is considered to be an immoral act which is not peculiar to any nation, race, creed or gender. It is non-consensual, forcible sexual relation or other sexual activity.
The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 8th Edition defines rape as “to force somebody to have sex with you when they don’t want to by threatening them or using violence”.
Rape is one of the most serious and atrocious crimes of violence which one person can commit against another fellow human being. It constitutes a violence of person’s fundamental human rights and freedom. The majority of rapes are carried out by somebody who may be known to the victim.
It is a form of gender-based violence which no border. Rape is global pandemic affecting both young and old, people of various classes, both the educated and uneducated, regardless of the race, ethnic background or religion. Sadly, women are the most effected of this crime.
In Nigeria today, the issue of rape has become an everyday crime and Nigerians have continued to raise eyebrows over the said heinous crime.
The alarming nature of rape cases and defilement of young girls in recent reported on pages of newspapers and on the social media have started generating reactions from stakeholders as in whether the government is no longer alive to enact law that can take care of this societal menace.
It is widely believed that no day passes without an incidence of rape or sexual harassment across the globe.
Against this backdrop, some people have attributed the increasing number of rape and defilement of young girls basically to social decadence and nonchalant attitude of some parents.
Parents should be active to their responsibilities and protect their children at all times; girl child especially should be taken into cognizance of their weaknesses.
To every child the father is the most trustworthy and safest person they have and yet this trust and loyalty is betrayed day by day by many that nature has called into fatherhood.
It is surprising how a father who should be considered a disciplinarian, mentor, teacher and a role model to their children turn out to be the destiny destroyer of innocent children.
A father confesses in the Punch Newspaper on 2nd September, 2015 that “he only raped his daughter six times” and the Women Focus asked “Must you even rape her for once? Is she not your flesh and blood? Must we now say that even our baby girls are no longer safe in the hands of their fathers? Are fathers not supposed to be the overseer of their children, why then must the flock be destroyed that the shepherd be made fat.
A primary school teacher aged 52 was also reported by The Punch Newspaper on the 23rd June, 2015 how a teacher raped a primary 5 pupil in her classroom. Are all these atrocities commit by those that was considered to mentor these children to greater height? Are men committing these atrocities for the fun of it or for ritual purposes to ruin the future of the innocent children?
Women Focus is bringing this issue to the knowledge and attention of the public that those who are suppose to be the role model, teachers, mentors are those who are standing in the way of growth of the leaders of tomorrow.
Though we know women are also responsible; women tend to dress indecently, as a result seducing men into the act of raping.
Also numbers of pornographic videos which are widely available even to the children.
It is time to collectively strategize on how to combat the danger of rape and assaults, people convicted of rape should either be charged for life imprisonment or death penalty so as to serve as deterrent to others.
Government will be failing in its responsibility, if she don’t act fast to oppose the tide of the rising cases of rape and sexual harassment.
Government should resolve to pool forces together to ensure that the incidence does not continue or curtail it to the barest minimum.
The society should not condone rape which is fast becoming a social epidemic. We must all be ready to stand up to fight that menace which violates the dignity of our girls and women. ###
EDITH NSE FRIDAY
08025293937
