#Nigeria –– How We Can Bring an End to Child Rape by Victoria Ibiwoye

 

In line with our hashtag #ReasonstoEndRape discussion on twitter today, one of our members has written some of her views on how rape can be stopped. It's a brilliant idea and I implore you to read it. Feel free to commend her effort by dropping your thoughts in the comment box.

Apart from being a friend to Ayo, I am a great fan of Ayodeji Osowobi's blog and I hope to support her in every way I can :).

I have watched as survivors of rape express their story with so much bitterness and anger and we may never fully understand what goes on after then. To us, it is just another sad story but to them, it is a life altered and only a few live on, others are killed inside by the torture and embarrassment.
I don't necessary believe in the death penalty of child molesters. However, I stand for the fact that no law breaker should go unpunished.

So, I am writing for the benefit of all, explaining a few ways we can put a stop to rape (and this doesn't matter if we have been survivors or not).

Taking Nigeria for an example, there should be a Public Complaints Commission like Ombudsman but an entirely different body for "rape survivors". If there is any, I haven't heard of it and perhaps it is because it isn't that effective. This body should be one that stands for justice and fairness regardless of the strata which the accused may belong.

Again, I suggest that children and young adults be further educated about rape as a vice. In fact, this and other form of vices which they must refrain from, should be included in their curriculum (abi it is curricular). In line with this, there should be an 'active' counselling unit and perhaps a question/answer box in schools that can meet the needs of students in this area. Students must also be assured of their privacy and safety.

There must be a prompt attention given to those who have complaints. I really get tired of seeing "if you have any complaints, feel free to call this line :0000 and when you do, its either there's a delay in help or they can't simply help as promised. We need passionate people in this field, this is why I suggested earlier, having a different body which is effective and runs as a legal body with ethics.

To end with, we ourselves have major roles to play because every rape survivor is human and no different from us. Their hurt is our hurt, their shame is our shame. Maybe they have fallen but I convinced that they can yet rise again with our support. We must use every means to put a stop to rape. We much encourage survivors to speak up, make good use of social media to further make awareness about this.

All these will go a long way in seeing to it that there is an end to rape in our community. This is just most of the ways but not all of it. If you have more ideas on how we can do this work better, please do not hesitate to send to us: (Awhyzie@gmail.com) and follow (@AyodejiOsowobi  and cc: @VickieScep)