Protecting women from violence through legislation in Nigeria: Need to enforce anti-discrimination laws
| Date | 01 December 2020 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1358229120971953 |
| Author | Grace Ayodele Arowolo |
| Published date | 01 December 2020 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Protecting women from
violence through
legislation in Nigeria:
Need to enforce
anti-discrimination laws
Grace Ayodele Arowolo
Abstract
Violence against women is a commonplace and widespread phenomenon in Nigeria.
It results from multifarious factors the major ones being gender discrimination/male
chauvinism, despite the ratification of major international anti-discrimination laws and
the enactment of national laws that prohibit violence. Preliminary investigations reveal
among others, that these ratified international anti-discrimination instruments are not
yet domesticated into law, while some of the national laws condone violence against
women, as encouraged by the patriarchal nature of the Nigerian society which is influ-
enced by culture and religion as enshrined within the plural Nigerian legal system. The
article highlights the major Nigerian Federal legislation and their failure to adequately
combat violence against women. It argues that the domestication and enforcement of
CEDAW and other relevant international anti-discrimination instruments, a review of
extant Nigerian laws, and the abolition of Nigerian societal practices and other
obnoxious beliefs can lead to adequate protection of women from violence.
Keywords
Violence against women, gender discrimination, Nigeria, patriarchal society,
law enforcement, anti-discrimination laws
Department of Public and Private Law, Faculty of Law, Lagos State University, Lagos, Nigeria
Corresponding author:
Grace Ayodele Arowolo, Department of Public and Private La w, Faculty of Law, Lagos State
University, Lagos/Badagry Expressway, Ojo Lagos, P.M.B. 0001, LASU Post Office, Ojo, Lagos
100268, Nigeria.
Email: ayodelearowolo2006@yahoo.com
International Journalof
Discrimination and theLaw
2020, Vol. 20(4) 245–288
ªThe Author(s) 2020
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/1358229120971953
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Introduction
Violence against women is the most pervasive and yet under-recognized human rights
violation in the world. It is also a problem that saps women’s energy, compromises their
physical and mental health, erodes their self-esteem, causes injury and increases
women’s long-term risk of a number of other health problems, including chronic pain,
physical disability, drug and alcohol abuse, and depression.
1
The elimination of such
violence with the aid of comprehensive legislation (being a key to effective and coordi-
nated response to violence against women) has been increasingly recognized as a priority
for the international community
2
especially during the second half of the 1970s when
there was a conceptual understanding that violence against women/gender based vio-
lence was not merely a matter of individual criminal behaviour but rather a gender based
manifestation of patriarchal domination which has been protected variously by cultural
norms and legal rights to privacy in the family
3
as it is in Nigeria. Consequently, the
United Nations (UN) enacted the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW) 1979.
4
Although CEDAW did not specifically mention
violence against women, this shortcoming was remedied in the Convention’s General
Recommendation No. 19 of 1992 which specifically described violence against women
as discrimination.
5
Discrimination in this context was interpreted in General Recom-
mendation No. 35 of 2017,
6
to mean that ‘violence against women’ is gender-based.
7
In
General recommendation 35, the term ‘gender-based violence against women’ is used to
explain the gendered causes and impacts of violence which further strengthens the
understanding of violence as a social rather than an individual problem, requiring com-
prehensive responses.
8
Being a State Party to the United Nations (UN), Nigeria ratified CEDAW. Other non-
legally binding instruments like the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence
Against Women (DEVAW), 1993
9
are also applicable to Nigeria. At the African
regional level is the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR)
10
and
the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of
Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol) 2003
11
to which Nigeria is a party. The main
challenge, among others, is that these comprehensive international laws have not been
domesticated into a single comprehensive national law specifically for protecting
women from violence. The implication is that such ratified treaties are not justiciable
by virtue of the provision of the Nigerian constitution and therefore women cannot claim
the rights protected therein.
12
One major factor against domestication and application of
laws specifically for prohibiting violence against women in Nigeria is the general lack of
political will by the government of Nigeria to protect the rights of women based on the
long time perception that Nigeria is a patriarchal society. That is, a traditionally male
dominated society which discriminates against the woman by perceiving her as vulner-
able, dependent on the male partner/husband and must be subject to his discipline.
13
The
only Federal law for combating violence in Nigeria is the Violence Against Persons
Prohibitions Act (VAPPA), 2015 which is not women specific but a general law and it is
applicable only to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, until adopted by another State of
Nigeria that desires it. Although some States have laws protecting women from different
246 International Journal of Discrimination and the Law 20(4)
forms of violence but their application is restricted to those States and they are poorly
implemented.
14
A further challenge is that prior to the ratification of CEDAW and the enactment of
VAPPA till present time, Nigeria operates a tripartite legal system that was inherited
from the colonial administration. This legal system comprises of the received English
law/statutory law, customary law and Islamic/Sharia law.
15
This combination of law
makes it very difficult to harmonize legislation and remove discriminatory measures
against women.
16
It has encouraged the simultaneous application of three systems of law
with varied provisions for women’s rights in Nigeria while many of their provisions
contradict current global standard which Nigeria has adopted. Some of the laws are
archaic and outdated, not sufficiently comprehensive, not adequately enforced and not
specifically directed to women,
17
while some also encourage and con done violence
against women, reflecting Nigeria as a patriarchal society. This confirms that gaps exist
in the legislation and needs to be addressed. This article highlights major provisions of
relevant Federal laws and identifies their shortcomings, the perpetration of violence and
discrimination against women and the prospects of how international and national laws
can interact with norms in ways that can be conducive to the reduction of the risk of
violence to women in Nigeria. It concludes that law does not adequately protect women
from violence in Nigeria due to so many factors including the strong influence of
pervasive culture and religious gender bias, gender discrimination/male chauvinism
(patriarchy). Recommendations are made for effective control of violence against
women in Nigeria.
Understanding the concept and nature of violence against
women
The term ‘violence’ has been variously defined. For example, Uzuegbunam defines it as
rough treatment, use of bodily force on others, especially unlawfully, to hurt or harm.
18
In relation to women, Article 1 of General Recommendation No. 19 of the CEDAW
Committee on violence against women provides that ‘gender-based violence is a form of
discrimination that seriously inhibits women’s ability to enjoy rights and freedoms on a
basis of equality with men’. Article 6 of the Recommendation further states that
The Convention in article 1 defines discrimination against women. The definition of dis-
crimination includes ge nder-based violence, tha t is, violence that is direc ted against a
woman because she is a woman or that affects women disproportionately. It includes acts
that inflict physical, mental or sexual harm or suffering, threats of such acts, coercion and
other deprivations of liberty. Gender-based violence may breach specific provisions of the
Convention, regardless of whether those provisions expressly mention violence.
Para. 9 of General Recommendation 35
19
confirms the above definition of discrim-
ination by stating that ‘the concept of “violence against women,” as defined in general
recommendation No. 19 and other international instruments and documents, places an
emphasis on the fact that such violence is gender-based’. Para. 9 makes explicit the
gendered causes and impacts of violence and asserts that this expression further
Arowolo 247
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