Advocates seek amendments to Nigeria’s VAPP Act

Some gender advocates have called for an “amendment” rather than a “repeal” of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act.

They also called for the publication of the sexual offenders register to curb gender-based violence.

They made the call in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos.

NAN reports that Jibrin Isah, the senator representing Kogi East, sponsored a bill seeking the repeal of the current law, so there could be amendments to what he referred to as substantial drafting challenges.

The bill has advanced to the second reading in the Senate.

Some of Mr Isah’s concerns included inadequate penalties for offenders, gender bias and inadequate provisions for compensating victims.

The advocates, however, said that rather than repealing the current law, an amendment should be made to include some of the concerns raised.

Ololade Ajayi, founder of DOHS Care Foundation, said there should be advocacy to ensure that the VAPP Act is adopted by all states in the federation rather than the bill seeking a repeal.

Reacting to the issue of gender bias raised by the senator, Mr Ajayi, who is also an anti-femicide advocate, said studies had shown that women and girls were disproportionately affected by gender-based violence.

Femicide is the intentional killing of women and girls, particularly by men, because of their gender.

“This bill actually has aspects that also cover the boy child.

“If he (senator) wants to push for stiffer penalties, that is fine, but you don’t have to repeal a bill to put that in. It can be amended,” she said.

Mr Ajayi noted that the publication of the sexual offenders register had so many advantages, including safeguarding and sensitising the public about the consequences of such crimes.

Also, Ifeyinwa Omowole, a former President of the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), said some of the issues highlighted in the proposed bill would ensure that perpetrators of crimes such as attempted rape are punished.

“There are many cases of attempted rape, where people purposely spike your drink or put you in situations where they can molest and have sexual knowledge of you without your consent.

“Somebody locks you in a room and wants to start stripping, maybe you now put yourself together and ran out or luckily, other people come to your rescue.

“What if you were not lucky? You would have been raped.

“But right now, people walk away because there’s no law to back it up,” she said.

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Mrs Omowole further said there should be a rethink about publishing the sexual offenders register to deter the current and would-be perpetrators.

“If we have a register and don’t make it public, what’s the point of the register?

“To make it public, we ensure that other people know about these sexual offences and who the offenders are and know what role to give them,” she said.

She, however, said the bill should be titled an “amendment” rather than a repeal.

(NAN)