The Need for The Entrenchment of Marital Rape in Nigeria’s Criminal Jurisprudence (Published)
The need for the entrenchment of marital rape in Nigeria’s criminal jurisprudence is a pressing issue that requires urgent attention. Marital rape refers to any non-consensual sexual activity perpetrated by a spouse against their partner within the institution of marriage. Despite being a prevalent form of gender-based violence, marital rape is not explicitly recognized as a crime under Nigeria’s legal framework. This paper examines the need for the entrenchment of marital rape in Nigeria’s Criminal jurisprudence. Marital rape is rampant in Nigeria, just like any form of rape. Marital rape victims have experienced a lot of psychological trauma, depression, emotional imbalance; the experience has resulted in divorce, medical, physical and mental health to its victims. Unfortunately, marital rape victim is unable to report their victimization to the appropriate authorities, this is because there is no law criminalizing marital rape in Nigeria. This paper further looks at the historical review of marital rape exemption, the theories about the exemption and need to criminalize marital rape in harmony with other jurisdiction. The paper therefore recommended the imperatives steps towards protecting the rights and well- being of individuals within the institution of marriage and legal support for victims of gender-based violence.
Keywords: Jurisdiction, Nigeria, Rape, Women, sexual intercourse
Prevailing Acts of Sexual Abuse in Nigeria: Looking Inwards for the Way Forward (Published)
The quest for solution to the prevailing rate of sexual abuse in Nigeria has been the focus of the government and relevant stakeholders lately. There have been efforts at various quarters to curb this act of sexual abuse, especially against women and the girl child, but it continued in perpetuity. It is in the light of this that the research examined the theoretical context of sexual abuse and recounted some recent reported incidents of rape and sexual violence in Nigeria. The aim of the research is to identify ways of curbing the trend of sexual abuse in Nigeria and, relying on both primary and secondary sources, the research adopted a doctrinal methodology. The result of the research revealed that, to effectively address the issue of sexual violence in Nigeria and curb its rampancy, pre-occurrence measures (preventive solutions) and post–occurrence solutions (curative) are efficient mechanisms to use. The research therefore recommends proactive steps on the part of the Nigerian government and relevant stakeholders in the fight against sexual violence in the country.
Keywords: Preventive measures., Rape, curative measures, sexual abuse