AGF Malami Meets Judges Over Rising Sexual Violence In Nigerian Schools, Others

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN on Tuesday held a capacity-building workshop for justices and judges of Nigerian courts on the disturbing phenomenon of Sexual and Gender-based violence happening within its jurisdictions, including in schools.

The event took place in Abuja, amid United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) data in late 2022 which revealed that over “90% of Nigerian women experiencing violence either do not report their experience to anyone or inform their parents only.”

At the home front, National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, data (from 2018 and 2020) obtained by THE WHISTLER, revealed that SGBV increased in the country from 118,708 complaints received by the Commission in 2018 to 128,320 complaints for 2020 .

Speaking to the judges at Continental Hotel, Abuja, Malami admitted that SGBV is a problem occurring in every culture, community and across social groups, adding that it often manifests in different forms resulting rape, sexual assault, sexual abuse and all sort of SGBV-related criminality.

“The judiciary plays a critical role in the criminal justice response to SGBV. It is uniquely placed to ensure that relevant criminal laws on SGBV are interpreted and applied with gender sensitivity and in appropriate language having regard to the victim’s age, educational level, cultural background, physical or mental disabilities,” Malami said.

The AGF drew the attention of all attendees to the need for the judiciary and other law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies to know the new dimensions SGBV offenses have taken.

“SRGBV on the other hand, are perpetrated in schools. It is fostered by gender stereotypes and enforced by unequal power relations. SRGBV is highly pervasive in schools in Nigeria across all regions today. It has resulted in massive human rights violations and increased the number of out-of-school children particularly, the girl child,” the AGF added.

Malami said, “In this regard, the Federal Government will continue to seek ways to support the Judiciary in developing its capacities, particularly to invest in technologies that are necessary to automate vital aspects of court operations and implement a digital justice delivery system.
“The expectations are that the judiciary must innovate and grow with the times. Part of this expected innovation entails imbibing dynamism in the application and adjudication of our laws and cases.”