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Child rapists in Nigerian state to be castrated under harsh new law

Protesters raise awareness about rising sexual violence outside police headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria - Kula Sulaimon /AFP
Protesters raise awareness about rising sexual violence outside police headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria - Kula Sulaimon /AFP

A tough new law in Nigeria’s Kaduna State will see child rapists castrated and executed, a push to protect women and children in a country where more than half the female population experiences sexual violence.

Kaduna state governor Nasir El Rufai approved the new law on Wednesday following parliament approval. "Drastic penalties are required to help further protect children from serious crime," a government spokesperson said.

The new law comes after weeks of agitation by women's rights groups who have been calling for action over a wave of reported cases of rape in recent months.

Nearly 800 cases of sexual violence were reported between January and May, with those numbers surging from April after a nationwide coronavirus lockdown was enforced, according to the Nigerian police.

Nigeria has long faced a sexual violence crisis. One in four young women and girls is sexually abused before they turn 18 according to Unicef, despite national laws against sexual abuse and the 2019 launch of a public sex offenders registry.

The real numbers of rape cases are likely higher. Stigma prevents Nigerian women from naming perpetrators and there’s little trust in the country’s judicial system which has struggled to convict suspects. Since 2019, just 34 rape suspects have been convicted out of 409 reported cases, according to the country’s trafficking agency which publishes the sex offenders register.

In May, nationwide condemnation and protests rocked the country after Uwaila Omozuwa, a 22-year-old student, was raped and bludgeoned to death while she studied in her local church. This was just one of many fatal sexual assault cases recorded during the lockdown. Some 11,000 people have since signed a petition for the Nigerian government to declare a state of emergency on sexual violence.

The soaring sexual violence prompted all 36 state governors to declare a state of emergency on rape in June although only Kaduna State government has taken further action.

Rapists face between 14 years and life under Nigerian law but state legislators have the power to impose a separate sentence.

Under Kaduna’s new code, males convicted of raping children under 14 will be surgically castrated and sentenced to death while female convicts will have their fallopian tubes removed before they are executed. The rape of persons over 14 years will attract the same punishment barring the death sentence.

Child convicts will also be given unspecified punishments and listed in a sex offender register open to the public, according to the law.

Some have praised the law but others criticise it. Evon Benson-Idahosa, a women's rights activist, says it fails to address a deep-seated patriarchal culture that discriminates against women and fosters practices such as child marriages. And human rights groups also say it is too severe and ultimately may not deter rapists.

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