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Rape is on the increase and women who fall victim face not only the emotional trauma and stigmatisation but difficulty in getting justice

Mary Adams (not real names) just abandoned her undergraduate studies because she was unable to pay her fees and other associated costs. It was only a year to her graduation. Turning to her parents for succour was incomprehensible because she had been estranged from them. Adams, 23, has not seen her mother who separated from her father when she was nine years old and she ran away from home at 20 shortly after gaining admission to a university. Why? Her father had been raping her regularly since she was 12.

Adams’ inability to condone the psychological and physical trauma of being sexually abused by her father forced her to flee from home. She started living with friends and before long, she became a regular patron of Lagos’ top nightclubs where she prostitutes herself to raise money to resume her studies.

She gradually settled down to prostitution as her only source of livelihood “I am defiled, tainted and of no value deep inside of me regardless of what people say to the contrary. How can my own father do that?,” she said, adding, “I can’t adjust to normal life again. Since my education has stopped now, I’m looking at other options…like going to Italy soon,” she said. That is the effect of incestuous rape on Adams.

The case of Bisi Williams (not real names) is not exactly the same. It was not incestuous but caused by date rape. She paid a visit to her boyfriend shortly before their graduation from a technical college. Unknown to her, three other men were lurking around to rape her. Shortly after she entered, they emerged, locked the door and gang-raped her. Her boyfriend initially refused to join in but he was beaten into raping her too. Since that day, Williams, 35, has found it impossible to maintain a healthy relationship with men. “At crucial moments, I just turn off,” she said. Williams has made an appreciable level of success in her banking career, but despite her good exposure, she does not see the possibility of getting married, nor consulting a psychiatrist. That experience has remained a big burden for her.

Rape committed against women and girls, especially the underaged, have become rampant. In Ifo, Ogun State, an 11-year-old girl was raped by Ishola Okugbesan, a 56-year-old neighbour who she normally ran errands for. Her unsuspecting mother even encouraged her to do household chores for the man who is separated from his wife. All of a sudden, the girl, who just commenced menstruating, stopped doing so and developed worrisome symptoms similar to pregnancy. She was confirmed pregnant at the hospital. The girl later delivered the baby surprisingly without caesarian section but died shortly thereafter due to complications from labour. That is the fatal effect of rape on a minor.

The affluent in the society are not immune to rapists. In GRA, Magodo-Shangisha, Lagos, a mother was perplexed to discover that her three daughters were always quarrelling and even fighting almost daily. All her efforts to unite them and make love reign among them failed. Eventually, she persuaded the youngest to reveal the underlying reason for their behaviour because she discovered the quarrel was unabating. The mother fainted and was rushed to the intensive care unit of a hospital after she heard the news. The family driver usually parked on a deserted stretch of the road on his way to Magodo while picking the three girls from school to rape them in the car with all of them witnessing the episodes. He started with the eldest and later moved to the middle sister which explained their bitter quarrels. He just started with the youngest who revealed all to their mother. Invariably, the driver had raped all the girls.

As worrisome as these cases are, they are still considered luckier because they did not contract sexually transmitted diseases from the act. The Gombe State Command of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, recently paraded 40-year-old Gambo Abare, an HIV-positive man from Gadam village, for allegedly raping a five-year-old girl. Altine Sani, the NSCDC commandant in the state, said the alleged rapist was caught in the act at about 6 p.m. in his grain-milling machine shop as the little girl was about to take food meant for breaking fast from her father to her grandmother. Abare lured her into the shop with sweets where she was defiled.  HIV-positive Abare admitted defiling Ramatu and also confessed to raping five other underage girls within the same week, one of whom was his underage niece. He said he had been in the act of raping underage girls since last year.

The newspapers are full of reports of numerous cases of rape, especially of minors with girls between ages three and 16. Josephine Effah-Chukwuma, the executive director of Project Alert, another women’s rights group, said at least 75 percent of rape, incest and defilement cases recorded by the NGO involved minors. In July 2011, a content analysis of three Nigerian daily newspapers revealed 13 cases of rape of minors.

One of the most recent celebrated cases of rape in Nigeria is that of a youth corps member by Oba Adebukola Alli, the Alowa of Ilowa, at his private home in Osun State, on March 25. The lady was posted for the compulsory one-year National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, in Obokun local council which falls under the monarch’s domain. In one of the rarest cases of rape prosecution in Nigeria, the king was arraigned and at the last hearing, he sought the court’s permission to travel abroad for medical treatment but was denied and consequently barred from travelling out of the country, pending the determination of the criminal case against him. The traditional ruler must surely be regretting the day he had what he claimed was “consensual sex” with the victim.

The problem with the crime is that it is difficult to pin down rapists to the crime. Most rapists plead that what actually happened was consensual sex and because there is no witness in most cases, it is always difficult to prove, especially when the victim is not an underaged girl. Grace Ketefe, director-general of Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre, Lagos, blames this situation on wrong reading of the minds of women. “A woman’s decision to honour a man’s invitation to his house or out on a date unaccompanied does not mean she has accepted to have sex,” she said.

Another problem of dealing with the crime is that most men believe that it is impossible to rape a woman. The thinking is that a woman who truly is unwilling to have sex knows what to do to hurt her attacking partner to stop him from having his way. Ketefe believes it is a wrong understanding of what really happens. She said what happens cannot be interpreted as consensual if the woman persistently says “no” to the request for sex. “No matter what, once a woman persistently says “no” to sex, her decision should be respected by the man but if the man goes against it to force his way, it is rape,” she said.

Some people have also argued that women lure men into the act of rape with their mode of dressing, that is, dresses that expose parts of their body which should be covered. Such people have insisted that men who get attracted to women who expose parts of their body should not be blamed for raping such women. Ketefe said the woman’s skimpy dress does not justify the beastly act of rape. She then asked: “Why then are women whose bodies are fully covered still raped? If an aged women is naked, will she be raped?” She argued that most men who commit rape are simply uncivil, they know it is difficult to prove and that most victims will even be too embarrassed to report the criminal. “They believe they can get away with the crime because it takes a lot of effort for the law to catch up with the offender,” she said.

Adebola Adebiyi, director, Skyhigh Medical Centre, also does not agree that scanty dressing by women, their body language or the venue of the meeting encourage men to commit rape. She said most rapists are people who are psychologically troubled. “They are people who have been abused themselves in the past or suffered some form of rejection while growing up and they want to visit their inner turmoil on others which could be in the form of sexual brutality,” he said.

In Africa, rape is more difficult to determine. In most cases, when a woman says “no” to a man’s request for sex, it is interpreted as “yes.” One businessman told Newswatch that in matters of sex, women do not really come out to say “yes,” let’s do it. Even when they want to do it, they don’t always say so clearly. In most cases, their “no” means “yes” Another man said when an adult man and an adult woman are in a private place, the purpose is known to both of them.

“A woman with a man in a private place ought to know that something is sure to follow. But women often feign disinterest even when they are.  Many would even be surprised if it doesn’t occur in such situations. Why then do they claim rape when it then happens. What is rape in that?” he said.

The Court of Appeal, under Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammed, defined rape as a man’s unlawful sexual intercourse with a woman against her will and without her consent or with her consent when the consent has been obtained by putting her in fear of death or hurt or with her consent when the consent was obtained through fraud. Though it is enshrined in different sections under the laws of the different states in Nigeria, the federal law for rape prosecution is found under Section 138 (1) Evidence Act, Cap 112, Laws of the Federation, 1990. But, regardless of this law, most rape victims do not seek redress.

Their reticence often arises from the uncooperative attitude of the policemen and the stigmatisation which those who report the incident face. So, they suffer in silence. Their silence stems from deep cultural and sociological beliefs that the society would blame them because women are originally designed as enjoyment objects for the man to play out his sexual fantasy in whatever manner the man desires. So, a woman who goes out with a man ought to know the consequences.

This explains why raped women rarely complain to anyone or the authorities due mainly to the cultural stigmatisation which the victims suffer from society by going public with intention to sue the perpetrators. Even in the cases of minors, their parents balk at the idea of suing the men who violated their children because it would dent their public image. Also, they would rather allow the incident go unpunished than risk jeorpadising their daughter’s future. In Nigeria, the family’s lineage will be tainted by such reports and future suitors might not come if they hear of similar incidents when they reach marriageable age.

The judicial process is also harrowing for many victims to contemplate. For a successful prosecution of rape cases, the burden of proof rests on the victim. The prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt that unlawful sex, which means not between husband and wife, complete penetration of the woman occurred without her consent. It must also prove that the suspect had the requisite mens sera or prior intention to have intercourse without her consent or the accused was reckless whether the woman consented or not. The evidence can be corroborated but this condition is optional.

Tunji Abayomi, a doctor of Law and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, said the burden of proof is heavy against the victim. “The society is actually tilted against the woman in Nigeria, he said.” Even in developed societies that are more compliant with women’s rights, successful prosecution of rape is difficult, so it is unimaginable the complexity of considering such a possibility in a traditional society like Nigeria. “I studied in US which is a society with enlightened views about women, with an efficient prosecuting system, excellent use of science, good strength of rape reports yet, it is hard to prove,” he said.

A rape case can be decided in a civil or criminal suit. The criminal suit is instituted by the state against the suspect. Here, the chance of conviction is dicey because the prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt that the rape occurred since the level of doubt favours the accused. In a civil case, proceedings are instituted by the victim and the balance of probability is in her favour that rape occurred than unlikely. “In a civil case, the victim can almost prove her case concretely, cogently and convincingly,” Abayomi said. In the case involving Dominic Strauss-Kahn, former chairman of the International Monetary Fund, the accused was set free in the popular New York criminal rape suit because the prosecution could not ascertain the veracity of evidence against him. But, Nafissatou Diallo, the 32-year-old Guinean immigrant and the victim, has opened civil proceedings against him.

In developed countries, a husband can even be indicted for raping his wife if there are recognitions of forced sexual relationship between them. But, it is not applicable in Nigeria because there is over-riding interest to protect the marriage. Besides, in Nigerian law, there is no recognition of force in sexual relations between a man and his wife.

What happens when a rape victim gets pregnant from the act? Under the Nigerian laws, a woman that gets pregnant through rape in Nigeria cannot abort it because abortion is illegal in the country. In Nigeria, abortion is seen as a crime so it is not permissible regardless of prevailing circumstances. This is unlike what obtains in US where abortion is conceived from the point of view of right of the woman so it is the woman’s choice to keep the baby or not.

Abayomi said rapists easily escape sentencing in Nigeria because of the uncompromising and unco-operative attitude of the male-dominated and unsympathetic Nigerian Police towards rape cases.

Official statistics on rape in the country is scanty. But some women rights’ groups were able to obtain some figures from federal government’s unpublished data books. According to figure obtained by CLEEN, a women rights’ group, 2,241 cases of rape and indecent assault were reported in 1999; 1,529 in 2000; 2,284 in 2001; 2,084 in 2002; 2,253 in 2003; 1,626 in 2004 and 1,835 in 2005.

Besides, it is difficult to obtain rape convictions in Nigeria because many victims who eventually seek redress weaken their cases by making faulty representations. Many do not undergo medical tests immediately after the act to ascertain full penetration and for swabs of the perpetrators’ semen to be taken for DNA testing. This normally strengthens the case of the molested against the molester.

The unwillingness of victims to do this was one of the reasons why the victim could not sustain an earlier guilty verdict against her alleged violator at the Appeal’s Court in case number CA/J/223C/2000 concerning Hamba Ukershima vs. the state. In the suit, presided over by Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar, the accused successfully raised a case of “It wasn’t me!” He allegedly waylaid the victim on a bush path late at night, dragged her to a nearby enclosure and raped her on March 28, 1992. The victim was arrested a month later but he raised a defence of alibi by claiming he was not the one in question because he was somewhere else as at the time of the incident. He queried why the victim could correctly ascertain that it was him when the rape occurred in the dark bush at night with no moonlight. Apparently, the victim had poor legal representation because firstly, she could have told the court that she recognised him by voice which is an admissible proof in law. Secondly, no DNA evidence was tendered which would have definitely nailed the suspect. But, she did not take these steps and the court overturned the earlier decision, December 10, 2001. Ukershima was earlier sentenced to three years’ imprisonment with an option of N200 fine at a Benue High Court. He, however, appealed the judgement.

Normally, when a woman is raped, she must first go for medical examination at the hospital and then proceed to the police station to obtain a police report. Apart from obtaining medical evidence, most rape cases often occur without the use of protection so the victim must undergo medical tests in order to verify her health status after the act. The rapist could have health issues like HIV or hepatitis and moreover, the victim could get pregnant.

There are some few instances where rape cases were successfully prosecuted. However, these occurred in remote, rural areas. In suit number CA/1/109/95 before Justice Sunday Akinola Akintan also at the Court of Appeal, Oludotun Ogunbayo allegedly raped a woman he dragged from her sister’s house to his place, December 23, 1987. When the victim’s father arrived at the scene shortly after the act, he met the accused naked. The accused denied raping the victim because she visited him of her own free will. Justice Akintan did not share the same sentiment and upheld the lower court’s earlier decision by sentencing him to seven years’ imprisonment or N5,000 option of fine.

Another successful trial of a rape case also occurred in a village. In suit number CA/J/177C/98, concerning Na’an Upaha and Aondongo Annyarev vs. The State before the Appeals’ Court, the accused were charged with conspiracy to commit rape, rape and abetment of rape. Upaha allegedly raped the victim with Annyarev’s help on the victim’s way from the stream. Though they admitted meeting the victim on her return from the stream, however, they denied the charges because they only chatted about schoolwork on their way home and nothing untoward happened. The Appeals’ Court thought differently and eventually found them guilty on attempted rape because she could not prove that penetration occurred. It sentenced them to three years’ imprisonment.

The long trial process also discourage victims. The state vs Ogunbayo took 14 years to decide. It spent 13 years at the High Court and a year at the Court of Appeal while the one between the state and Ukershima took 11 years of trial. Such long, drawn-out legal proceedings over a sensitive matter like rape makes victims run shy of suing rapists.

Also, the attitude of the judiciary often complicates issues during investigation and trial. “They add to the victim’s problem when they begin to ask her ridiculous questions which are more like subjecting her to another form of rape to the public,”Ketefe said. They often do not protect the identity of the victim to shield her from stigmatisation so, people begin to point fingers at her saying “there goes the girl that was raped.” So some judges, especially when it comes to children, try to shield the identity of the child. The courts should be more sensitive to the issue of rape.

Lack of adequate tools in investigating rapes also stall most of the cases. Nigeria Police and many hospitals cannot do DNA testing. With such testing, experts can still secure a conviction even after the victim had bathed and on the strength of that alone, the victim can secure conviction. But unfortunately, Nigeria has not gotten to that stage yet.

It is then a hopeless situation for victims because they undergo unimaginable trauma. Those who braved the negative publicity almost literally go through hell to get a conviction against their molester, even if they sue and even when they do, it rarely hardly undo the damage already done. Those who did not speak out also fare badly. They experience Rape Trauma Syndrome, RTS, a form of psychological trauma.

Not all rape survivors show their emotions outwardly. Some may appear calm and unaffected by the assault but it is a ruse because the victim is still suffering from internal horrors like diminished alertness, numbness, dulled sensory, affective and memory functions, disorganised thought content, vomiting, nausea, paralysing anxiety, pronounced internal tremor, obsession to wash or clean themselves, hysteria, confusion and crying, bewilderment and acute sensitivity to the reaction of other people. They also develop fears and phobias and may also suffer from debilitating illnesses like migraine, high blood pressure, heart problems, lack of appetite, and so on. They often get nightmares and develop hatred for men generally.

In a paper published in 1976, it was noted that only one victim out of 92 exhibited fair coping mechanisms after a rape. The outward adjustment stage may last from several months to many years after a rape. The five main coping strategies during the outward adjustment phase includes minimisation, which is pretending “everything is fine;” dramatisation occurs when the victim cannot stop talking about the assault; suppression happens when she refuses to discuss the rape; explanation phase makes her  to continually analyses what happened and flight phase happens when she moves to a new location or city.

Fleeing to another place does not help much either. Attempt to get into normal sexual relationships becomes disturbed. Many survivors have reported that they were unable to reestablish normal sexual relations and often shied away from sexual contact for some time after the rape. Some complain of inhibited sexual response and flashbacks to the rape during intercourse. Conversely, some rape survivors become hyper-sexual or promiscuous after being raped sometimes as a way to reassert a measure of control over their sexual life. Some rape survivors see the world as a more threatening place to live in after the rape and so place restrictions on their lives so that normal activities will be interrupted. For example, they may discontinue previously active involvements in societies, groups or clubs, or a mother who was a victim may place restrictions on the freedom of her children.

However, though not overdone, parents must be vigilant to prevent their children from being raped. According to the Mayo Clinic in US, 85 percent of rape often occurs with someone familiar even within families. So, parents must closely monitor their children, especially girls, during family trips, holidays to relatives or when people are staying with them. Kids of different sexes must not be allowed to sleep together on the same bed or room if possible, irrespective of family relationship or age. Ladies should also avoid being placed in vulnerable situations even with familiar people of the opposite sex. “In this case, there is nothing like being too cautious,” Kudirat Anifowoshe, a mother of four, said.

For rape victims, help may be on the horizon. Ronke Ajayi-Ladapo, assistant director, Lagos State Ministry of Women Affairs, said the state government supports the fight against rape. “The government is fully committed to the fight against gender-based violence. This has been demonstrated…by establishing the first government-owned shelter for abused women and young girls in August 2011. And we are still going to do more,” Ajayi-Ladapo said.

Princess Olufemi-Kayode, chief executive of Mediacon, another NGO advocating against sexual abuse, enjoined victims to sue their violators. “But there’s a lot more to do in dealing with victims and everybody must be involved,” Olufemi-Kayode said. Indeed, the whole society must be involved to reduce this ugliest violation and defilement of women called rape.