Introduction

The lockdown measure in Nigeria was effective in reducing COVID-19 transmission, with closure of schools, movement restriction, and recommended home stays. In spite of these benefits, the COVID-19 lockdown resulted in varying levels of distress among individuals including domestic violence and other forms of violence against women, girls and children.
Prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, response to domestic and gender-based violence related issues were less than 10% of the issues the Know Your Rights Nigeria’s Legal Team followed up on. This increased to over 49% during the lockdown. Domestic violence cases increased and the growing spread of women, girls and children’s rights abuses (some resulting in death) widely reported were evidence of threats to fundamental rights of women, girls and children in Nigeria.

The Women, Girls and Children Empowerment campaign aims to connect vulnerable communities (women, girls and children) to our existing Know Your Rights Nigeria human rights platforms.
The project’s goal is to update the technology, utility and advocacy behind the successful ‘Know Your Rights Nigeria’ app and web version. The project is championing Community Rights & Resilience as it will enhance the understanding of human rights during a crisis for the communities of women, girls and children in Nigeria as we have simplified their rights and safeguards in English and Pidgin languages spoken by over 100 million Nigerians for Android, iPhone and web users. On the platform, women and girls facing domestic and gender-based violence related issues have the option to chat daily, openly or anonymously, with a team of lawyers on the app pro-bono on legal issues with response to all inquiries and follow up on complaints.

Press the back (<-) arrow at the top to enjoy all the human rights issues we have simplified with safety tips and safeguards and access support services from Organizations across Nigeria. You can also report abuse anonymously or openly. Go to menu and “Chat Lawyers” if you need legal help.

Know Your Rights Nigeria is a project of Constitutional Rights Awareness and Liberty Initiative. The women, girls and Children empowerment part of this project in English and Pidgin languages is supported Innovation for Change (I4C) Africa

Wife Battering/Torture

Wife battering and torture include slapping, beating, arm twisting, stabbing, strangling, choking, kicking and many others which are harmful to health and well being of a woman. These acts liable to result to physical abuse have led to sudden death and incapacitation of many women in Nigeria.
It is very important to state that wife battering or torture of women is a crime in Nigeria. The law equally frowns and prescribes punishment to those who incite aid, abet or counsel another person to inflict physical injury on a person including those who receive or assist another person to carry out the unlawful act.

Safety tips for women against battering/Torture:
Women are encouraged to report wife battering/ tortures
Women are advised to retreat from scenes where there are threat of offensive weapons and report threat to commit physical abuse

Penalty (State applicable laws and jurisdiction):
In Ekiti, a person who willfully causes or inflicts physical injury on another person through weapon, substance or object has committed an offence and liable to a minimum of 2 years imprisonment or fine of N200,000.00 at minimum or both imprisonment and fine. (See Section 3(1) of Ekiti State Gender-Based Violence (Prohibition) Law, No 18 0f 2019)
In Lagos, Lagos State Protection against Domestic Violence Law prohibits wife battering and torture.
In Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Benue, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Enugu, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kwara, Nasarawa, Ogun, Ondo and Oyo, Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) law of each of the aforementioned states prohibit all forms of violence against persons including women.
Note that Criminal code and penal code outlaw torture or physical abuse leading to sudden death or incapacitation of another in Nigeria.

Marrying or giving an under-age girl into marriage (Early/ Forced Marriage)

Forced marriage/child marriage is a marriage in which an under aged girl or minor is given out for marriage without her consent or against her will. This occurs when the girl is below the statutory age of ‘18’. In other words, it is the marriage of a girl before the statutory year recognized by law.
Early marriage is the act of giving out a female child for marriage at a very tender age, mostly when the girl knows nothing about her rights. In Nigeria, early marriage comes in the form of child betrothal; this involves marrying out a girl child immediately after she is delivered. While forced marriage on the other hand is simply marrying out a girl against her wish, it could also be referred to as induced marriage. In some cases the girls are withdrawn from school or even denied access to education. There are cases in which parents have forced their grown daughters into marriages against their wishes either due to cultural, social, economic or political reasons.
Child marriage is usually referred to as any formal marriage or informal union between a child under the age of 18 and an adult or another child. A child cannot give consent to marriage or consummation of same. Child Marriage in the real sense is Serial Child Sexual Abuse

Safety tips for girls against early forced marriage:
* Girls should be encouraged to speak to trusted adults that can help or speak up to agencies set up to curb this menace
*Parents of such girls should be educated.
Penalty:
In states such as the FCT, Ekiti State, Ondo state, etc where the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Laws and Child Rights Laws have been domesticated, the punishment for forced marriage is a maximum of 2years imprisonment or a fine of #500,000 or both and conviction to a fine of N500,000 or imprisonment for a term of 5 years or both to such fine and imprisonment respectively.
Section 21 of The Child’s Right Act provides for Prohibition of child betrothal or marriage and set the punishment for child marriage and betrothal to a fine of N500,000; or imprisonment for a term of five years or to both such fine and imprisonment. This applies to a person-
(a) who marries a child; or (b) to whom a child is betrothed; or (c) who promotes the marriage of a child; or (d) who betroths a child.
In Nigeria except 11 states that are yet to domesticate the Act including Kebbi, Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, Jigawa, Zamfara, Bauchi, Yobe, Gombe, Borno and Adamawa, Child marriage is outlawed.
It is important to note that though Kwara and Kaduna have also domesticated the Child’s Right Act. The provisions on Child marriage differs. By Section 24(3) of Kaduna State Child Protection Law, A child of 14 years has a right to contract a marriage under Islamic Law though the age of majority is 18 years.
In Kwara, It is evident from sec 274 of the Kwara State Child Rights Law, 2007 where ‘a child is defined as any person under the age of 16’ that a child of 16 year old in Kwara may get married as she is not a child.

Raping a woman or girl

It is the unlawful sexual intercourse or any other sexual penetration of the vagina, anus or mouth of a girl/woman with or without force.
Under both the Criminal Code and the Penal code, pretending to be the husband of a woman in order to have sexual intercourse with such woman is considered rape. Rape can also be defined as an unlawful sexual activity, most often involving sexual intercourse, against the will of the victim through force or the threat of force or with an individual who is incapable of giving legal consent because of minor status, mental illness/deficiency, intoxication, unconsciousness or deception. Under the Nigerian Law, any sexual intercourse made with a girl below the age of 13 with or without her consent is considered rape.

Safety tips for a woman or girl against rape:
*Avoiding deserted environments.
*Avoiding excessive intake of alcohol
*Avoiding the use of hard drugs or any related narcotics which can lead to vulnerability.
*Sex education/orientation.
*Reporting suspicious advances when necessary.
*Avoiding indecent dressings which can attract indecent advances.
*Self defence where necessary.

Penalty: (State applicable laws and jurisdiction)
Under the Criminal Code, rape is punishable with life imprisonment with or without caning. Under the Penal Code, rape is punishable with life imprisonment or lesser period, with or without an option of fine.
In Ekiti State, going by the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Acts 2015, the minimum punishment for rape is 12 years imprisonment without fine and the maximum punishment is life imprisonment. Where the offender is less than 14years old, his maximum punishment is 14 years imprisonment. Where it is a gang/group rape, the offenders are jointly liable to a minimum of 20 years imprisonment. Also, names of sexual offenders are to be kept in a register and made public.

Child Defilement

Sexual Intercourse (sexual penetration) with a child is Child defilement.

Safety tips for children or girl against rape:
Children must know that every part of their body is private and should not be touched except for care and cautious affection.
Children should be taught to play their role in their Personal Safety and Self Protection
Children should keep their private spaces
Children should be encouraged to speak up at the slightest suspicion of impending abuse
Children should also speak in the unfortunate incidence that abuse occurs
Children should be taught to understand the principles of self-protection and how the abuser thinks

Penalty: (State applicable laws and jurisdiction)
By virtue of the Child’s Right Act and for many states that have domesticated the law, any person who has sexual intercourse with a child commits a felony and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for life.
By Section 282 (1b) of the Penal Code Act (Applicable in the North), and Section 218 and Section 221 of the Criminal Code Act (Applicable in the South), life imprisonment is the punishment for child defilement. Under the Criminal Code Act, this is applicable when the child is under 13 and 14 under the Penal Code Act.
Where the child above 13 and under 16 under the Criminal Code Act, the offender is liable to imprisonment for two years with or without caning.
In Ogun and Delta State, the law provides for life imprisonment for persons under 11 years and not 13years

Committing incest with a woman or girl-child

Incest is a sexual intercourse between persons so closely related that they are forbidden by law to marry each other. Incest is human sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations) and sometimes, those related by affinity (marriage or step family), adoption, clan or lineage.
It is a crime in Nigeria by virtue of Section 3, subsection 1, sub-sub section b of the Matrimonial Causes Act. Also, Section 33 of the Marriage Act forbids sexual relations and marriage among people who are related by blood. It is captured as “Prohibited degree of consanguinity.” Incestuous relationships or marriages are further prohibited in the 1st Schedule (Section 3) of the Matrimonial Causes Act, Cap 220, Law of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) 1990, where it lists the prohibited degree of consanguinity to include that between father and daughter, mother and son, brother and sister, uncle and aunt, niece, and nephew.
We believe that when a child is involved, the appropriate word is Child Defilement and the above provision in Child Defilement in this app will apply as a child cannot give consent to any form of sex, familial or otherwise.

Safety tips for a child against incest:
• The child should be taught how to identify the abuser in all circumstances, and taught anyone may try to abuse them not just people they don’t know.
• They must be taught that a stranger is anyone they cannot vouch for including ‘family’.
General safety tips against incest:
*Avoid dressing/ undressing in the presence of a family member of the opposite sex.
*Reporting suspicious sexual advances made by a relation to older members of the family.
*Self-defense where necessary.
*Making an arrest.

Penalty: (State applicable laws and jurisdiction)
Again, Section 214 (3) of the Criminal Code Act, Caption 77, Law of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) prescribes a minimum of 14 years imprisonment for those found guilty of incestuous liaison, which it referred to as “offence against morality
Section 390 of the Penal Code provides that the offender shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years and shall also be liable to fine.
In Cross river state, any male person found committing the offense of incest is guilty of a misdemeanor and liable to an imprisonment of 5years. If the victim is below 11 years, he is guilty of a felony and liable to an imprisonment of 14 years. An attempt to commit incest attracts an imprisonment of 2 years.
We believe that when a child is involved, the appropriate word is Child Defilement and the Child Defilement as provided in this app will apply.

Sexually harassing a woman or girl

Sexual harassment is an unwelcome sexual behavior or contact that is offensive, humiliating or intimidating. It can be committed by writing, verbally or physically. It can also happen in person or online. Section 63 of the Ekiti State Gender-Based Violence (Prohibition) Law 2019 defines sexual harassment as an unwanted conduct of a sexual nature or other conduct based on sex or gender which is persistent or serious and demeans, humiliates or creates a hostile or intimidating environment and this may include physical, verbal or non verbal conduct.
Sexual harassment is unwelcome sexual advances, request for sexual favours, and other visual, verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature which when submitted to or rejected—

(a) implicitly or explicitly affects a person’s employment or educational opportunity or unreasonably interferes with the person’s work or educational performance;
(b) implicitly or explicitly suggests that submission to or rejection of the conduct will be a factor in academic or employment decisions; or
(c) creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive learning or working environment.

Safety tips for children against sexual harassment:
Children should be encouraged to speak up at the slightest suspicion of impending abuse
Children should speak up and talk to a trusted adult when anyone tries to harass them
Children should be taught to understand the principles of self-protection and how the abuser thinks.
General tips:
*Public outcry
*Reporting to a higher authority, especially when the offender is in a high rank or position
*Self defence where necessary.

Penalty: (State applicable laws and jurisdiction)
Section 262 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State provides that any person who sexually harasses another commits a felony and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for three (3) years
Sexual Harassment was not specifically mentioned in the Child Rights Act, it however provides for other forms of sexual abuse other than defilement.
A person who sexually abuses or sexually exploits a child in any manner not already mentioned under this Part of this Act commits an offence is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of fourteen years.
Under the Criminal Code which is applicable in states like Ogun, Osun, etc, any person found guilty is liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than 2 years or a fine of not less than #100,000 or both.

Sexually exploiting or enslaving a woman or girl

Sexual exploitation is defined to be a sexual abuse in which persons of any age take advantage of a power imbalance to force or entice a girl/woman into engaging in sexual activity in return for something received by the girl/woman. These can as well be received by those perpetrating or facilitating the abuse. It includes rape, prostitution, sexual photography, subjection to pornography, or witnessing sexual acts and assaults to which the girl or woman has not consented to or was pressured into consenting.
Any Sexual Act or overture which is prejudicial to the best interest of the child is sexual exploitation. Enslaving a child is using a child for labour that is exploitative and affects the all-round welfare of the child.

Safety tips for children against sexual exploitation:
The tips given for sexual abuse applies here
Children should be encouraged to speak up
Economic empowerment for parents will help.
Children should be enlightened about these exploitative behaviours and taught to speak up when illicit offers are made towards them
Laws set to protect children here should be enforced

General:
*Staying off hard drugs or alcohol abuse.
*Avoiding bad companies.
*Not being materialistic.
*Public outcry.
*Reporting to the police.
*Self defence where necessary.

Penalty: (State applicable laws and jurisdiction)
Section 30 of the Child Rights Act has prohibits the use of a child for sale, begging for alms, prostitution, hawking ,bondage, slavery, drugs, pornography, or trafficking and sets the punishment for offenders to liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of ten years.
Section 32 of the Child’s right Act provides that offender who sexually abuses or sexually exploits in a way not specifically mentioned by the act is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of fourteen years. This is more of an Omnibus clause because the issue of abuse against children is inexhaustible. This therefore refers to any form of sexual abuse not mentioned by the act.
The Criminal Code Act provides for Abduction of girls under sixteen for the purpose of marriage or sex, any offender here is guilty of a misdemeanor, and is liable to imprisonment for two years. Under the Criminal Law of Lagos State, the punishment is set as imprisonment for 10 years and provides for children under 18

Sexually abusing a woman or girl (Slavery or trafficking)

Sexual abuse & trafficking involves the use of force, fraud or coercion to obtain some type of labour or commercial sex acts. It is a form of sexual exploitation and considered modern day slavery. It is also the recruitment, habouring, transportation, provision or obtaining of an individual who under threat, force, fraud or coercion is induced to perform a commercial sex act.

Safety tips against sexual slavery or trafficking:
*Avoiding accepting jobs with no detailed information or specifications.
*Public outcry.
*Reporting to the police.
Girls and women should be enlightened about these exploitative behaviours and taught to speak up when illicit offers are made towards them

Penalty: (State applicable laws and jurisdiction)
The trafficking in Persons Law Enforcement and Administration Act (TPLEAA) as amended 2015 prescribe a minimum of 2years imprisonment and a fine of #250,000 for both sex and labor trafficking. If the victim is a child, the punishment is a minimum sentence of 7years imprisonment and a fine of #1,000,000.

Exposing a woman or girl to forced labour

Forced labour is any work or service which a woman or girl is forced to do against her will, under threat of punishment. It is any work a woman or girl is exposed to against her will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, compulsion or other forms of hardship.

Safety tips against forced labour:
*Public outcry.
*Reporting such cases to the appropriate authority.

Penalty: (State applicable laws and jurisdiction)
The Trafficking in Persons Law Enforcement and Administration Act (TPLEAA) as amended 2015 prohibits forced labour and it is punishable with a minimum of 5 years imprisonment and a fine of N500,000.