Cosmas Odoemena
Lucy’s (not her real name) father is American while her mum is German. I met her a few years ago in Lagos when my kinsman Chidi (not real name) introduced us. Lucy always wanted to come to Africa. They had met when he was in Germany. And in no time it clicked for them and they got married. Today they have three children. She works in one of the embassies in Lagos. After a few minutes with her, I found a beautiful, intelligent, unassuming woman, with lots of vigour.
Those who saw Lucy when she went to the village in Imo state with her husband for the first time marveled that a white woman would want to come to live with them. She did not have her nose in the air, she embraced them, and they accepted her. She farmed with the women, picked palm kernel, pounded food, went to the market, and rode their Raleigh bicycles. But there was to come a dark twist to her life in her adopted country.
One afternoon a worried looking Chidi, along with Lucy came to the hospital where I worked. I asked them to sit down. There and then Lucy broke down in tears. I was not sure of the right words to soothe her because I did not know why she was crying. It was then that Chidi told me the story.
Apparently, while in her chauffer driven car, some men had waylaid them. They forced them to change direction. The vehicle went very far and they stopped at a house where they took her in and held the chauffer outside. She said she was kept there for five days and was raped repeatedly by three men. They asked for a hefty ransom and forced her to give them the password of her ATM, which they withdrew at will. Somehow when they could not get the ransom she was released. There is evidence to believe that her chauffer masterminded it. The matter was already with the police. I was to carry out a medical check up on her.
Lucy is not alone. There are many like her. As sex is an instrument of love, it can also be that of hate. Rape is one horrible phenomenon which has been part of our society. From little girls, to young women, and then to old women, there is no discrimination. Many go unheard, because women hide it for fear of the stigma. And even when there is arrest of the culprits it ends there. In no time the perpetrators are free again to continue to commit their crime. Even those who should keep the law break it. In Nigeria policemen and even soldiers have been involved in rape.
Amnesty International and other civil societies have condemned these acts. They and all forward-looking people have called on government to help protect women, and to see that justice is done. But the recent “news” that the House of representatives is about to pass a bill that rape offenders will spend the rest of their lives in jail does not inspire confidence. Only a few newspapers carried it though and a television station as far as I know. But no credible news organization worth its salt would carry such. If our lawmakers know what they are doing, they would know that the law they claim to have passed already exists. If they had done their work well there will not have been the duplication. The Criminal Code says in Chapter 30 section 358 that “Any person who commits the offence of rape is liable to imprisonment for life, with or without caning.”
As we already know there are enough laws in Nigeria. The problem has been that of implementation. Furthermore, no matter the punishment stipulated for rape it will not deter rapists. Rapists already know that they live in a country where there are many unsolved murders, where assassins are walking freely, where suicide bombers scare the pants off government. It is the same country where committees are set up to do the work of another committee whose recommendations are left to gather dust. It is the same country where government agencies have overlapping functions. It is the same country where people are awarded the same national honour twice.
My heart goes out to all women who have experienced rape. I can imagine someone who wanted to preserve their virginity till they get married having that hope crushed by a heartless individual who leaves behind only sad memories; the fear of unwanted pregnancy, the fear of contracting sexually transmitted diseases STD, including HIV and hepatitis.
Rape is horrible. But it is not horrible for all the many reasons society likes to put forward that hurt the victim even more. Like Sohaila Adulali, author of the novel “Year of the Tiger” argues “it is horrible because you are violated, you are scared, someone else takes control of your body and hurts you in the most intimate way. It is not horrible because you lose your “virtue.” Like her, I don’t believe the notion that a woman’s virtue is located in her vagina, just as I also reject the notion that men’s brains are in their genitals.
The law is already clear on what the penalty for rape is. The rapists must get the deserved punishment. Families and communities also need to support victims. It is terrifying when a child of five is being hurt and humiliated. The world she trusts has failed her.
But perhaps most importantly, men need to be re-educated. Men who rape must stop to think how they would feel if the same was done on their own wives, daughters, and even grandmothers. Do unto others how you would want them do to you.
Dr Cosmas Odoemena
Cosmas Odoemena
Lucy’s (not her real name) father is American while her mum is German. I met her a few years ago in Lagos when my kinsman Chidi (not real name) introduced us. Lucy always wanted to come to Africa. They had met when he was in Germany. And in no time it clicked for them and they got married. Today they have three children. She works in one of the embassies in Lagos. After a few minutes with her, I found a beautiful, intelligent, unassuming woman, with lots of vigour.
Those who saw Lucy when she went to the village in Imo state with her husband for the first time marveled that a white woman would want to come to live with them. She did not have her nose in the air, she embraced them, and they accepted her. She farmed with the women, picked palm kernel, pounded food, went to the market, and rode their Raleigh bicycles. But there was to come a dark twist to her life in her adopted country.
One afternoon a worried looking Chidi, along with Lucy came to the hospital where I worked. I asked them to sit down. There and then Lucy broke down in tears. I was not sure of the right words to soothe her because I did not know why she was crying. It was then that Chidi told me the story.
Apparently, while in her chauffer driven car, some men had waylaid them. They forced them to change direction. The vehicle went very far and they stopped at a house where they took her in and held the chauffer outside. She said she was kept there for five days and was raped repeatedly by three men. They asked for a hefty ransom and forced her to give them the password of her ATM, which they withdrew at will. Somehow when they could not get the ransom she was released. There is evidence to believe that her chauffer masterminded it. The matter was already with the police. I was to carry out a medical check up on her.
Lucy is not alone. There are many like her. As sex is an instrument of love, it can also be that of hate. Rape is one horrible phenomenon which has been part of our society. From little girls, to young women, and then to old women, there is no discrimination. Many go unheard, because women hide it for fear of the stigma. And even when there is arrest of the culprits it ends there. In no time the perpetrators are free again to continue to commit their crime. Even those who should keep the law break it. In Nigeria policemen and even soldiers have been involved in rape.
Amnesty International and other civil societies have condemned these acts. They and all forward-looking people have called on government to help protect women, and to see that justice is done. But the recent “news” that the House of representatives is about to pass a bill that rape offenders will spend the rest of their lives in jail does not inspire confidence. Only a few newspapers carried it though and a television station as far as I know. But no credible news organization worth its salt would carry such. If our lawmakers know what they are doing, they would know that the law they claim to have passed already exists. If they had done their work well there will not have been the duplication. The Criminal Code says in Chapter 30 section 358 that “Any person who commits the offence of rape is liable to imprisonment for life, with or without caning.”
As we already know there are enough laws in Nigeria. The problem has been that of implementation. Furthermore, no matter the punishment stipulated for rape it will not deter rapists. Rapists already know that they live in a country where there are many unsolved murders, where assassins are walking freely, where suicide bombers scare the pants off government. It is the same country where committees are set up to do the work of another committee whose recommendations are left to gather dust. It is the same country where government agencies have overlapping functions. It is the same country where people are awarded the same national honour twice.
My heart goes out to all women who have experienced rape. I can imagine someone who wanted to preserve their virginity till they get married having that hope crushed by a heartless individual who leaves behind only sad memories; the fear of unwanted pregnancy, the fear of contracting sexually transmitted diseases STD, including HIV and hepatitis.
Rape is horrible. But it is not horrible for all the many reasons society likes to put forward that hurt the victim even more. Like Sohaila Adulali, author of the novel “Year of the Tiger” argues “it is horrible because you are violated, you are scared, someone else takes control of your body and hurts you in the most intimate way. It is not horrible because you lose your “virtue.” Like her, I don’t believe the notion that a woman’s virtue is located in her vagina, just as I also reject the notion that men’s brains are in their genitals.
The law is already clear on what the penalty for rape is. The rapists must get the deserved punishment. Families and communities also need to support victims. It is terrifying when a child of five is being hurt and humiliated. The world she trusts has failed her.
But perhaps most importantly, men need to be re-educated. Men who rape must stop to think how they would feel if the same was done on their own wives, daughters, and even grandmothers. Do unto others how you would want them do to you.
Dr Cosmas Odoemena
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