The World Health Organisation in 2002 provided an expansive definition of sexual violence as “any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, unwanted sexual comments or advances or acts of traffic, or otherwise directed towards a person’s sexuality using coercion, by any person regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting, including but not limited to home and work. The 2012 British Council Nigeria Gender Report details that one in three women has been subjected to some form of sexual violence, including physical and psychological violence. The 2014 UNICEF/National Bureau of Statistics Study reveals that one in four girls experiences sexual violence in childhood. Today, hardly will one open the pages of newspapers without reading of so many incidents of sexual violence. In view of the above, this writer urgently proposes the following measures in tackling the scourge of sexual violence in Nigeria.

Source: Punch August 23, 2020 23:03 UTC