At Sensitization Workshop on Sexual and Gender based Violence in Nigeria - https://www.facebook.com/events/1606162636377294/

1. VAPP ACT AS AN ADVOCACY
TOOL TO CURBING SGBV IN
NIGERIA
Adaobi Egboka
Executive Programmes Director

2. Presentation Outline
• Definition of SGBV
• Forms SGBV
• Laws of SGBV
• Overview of the VAPP Act, 2015
• Innovations of the Act as Advocacy tool
• Recommendations/ Priority Plan
• Conclusion

3. Definition of Gender Based Violence
UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against
Women-
Any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is
likely to result in, physical, sexual or
psychological harm or suffering to women,
including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary
deprivations of liberty, whether occurring in public
or in private life.”

4. Forms of SGBV
• Physical violence can occur both in private and in
public. When it occurs in the home it is referred to as
domestic violence. Physical acts such as: slapping,
kicking, stabbing, shooting, hitting, pouring acid or
any other corrosive substance, and murder.
• Sexual Violence: This is violence of a sexual
nature, and can also occur in private and public. It is
the abuse of women’s bodily integrity, and includes
incest, indecent assault, rape, gang rape,
sexual harassment.

5. Forms of SGBV
• Psychological Violence. This form of GBV is most
times not immediately obvious to the eye. It involves
threats to life; threats of physical and sexual abuse; and
verbal abuse, resulting in deep rooted fear of the abuser,
by the victim, and severe psychological trauma. It also
involves the neglect, and abandonment of women and
children by their husbands/fathers.
• Other Forms of GBV include forced marriage,
trafficking in women/young girls; forced
prostitution; harmful traditional practices such as
widowhood practices; economic violence; and
female genital mutilation.

6. Legal Context
•Convention on Elimination of all
Forms of Discrimination Against
Women (CEDAW)
•African Charter on Human and
People’s Rights
•Protocol to the African Charter on
the Rights of Women in Africa
(Maputo protocol).

7. National Laws
• Domestic Violence Law- Ebonyi, Lagos, Jigawa,
Ebonyi
• Female Genital Mutilation – Edo and Cross River,
Delta
• Harmful traditional widowhood practice ( Anambra
and Cross River)
• Prohibiting all forms of Gender based Violence –
Ekiti

8. National Laws
• prior to May, 2015, no national law explicitly
protected sexual and gender based violence (SGBV).
• The Criminal Code and Penal code
• Violence Against Persons (Prohibition Act) 2015 (
VAPP Act)

9. The Essence of VAPP ACT
To eliminate violence in private and
public life; prohibit all forms of
violence against persons and to provide
maximum protection and effective
remedies for victims and punishment
of offenders

10. Innovations of the Violence Against
Prohibition Act (VAPP Act)
• RAPE-
section 357 of the Criminal Code
• ‘Any person who has unlawful carnal knowledge of a
woman or girl, without her consent or with her
consent, if the consent is obtained by force or by
means of threats or intimidation of any kind, or by
fear of harm, or by means of false and fraudulent
representation as to the nature of the act, or in the
case of a married woman, by personating her husband
is guilty of an offence which is called rape’

11. Rape in penal Code
• section 282 of the Penal Code as:
• ‘A man is said to commit rape who … has sexual
intercourse with a woman in any of the following
circumstances:-
(a) against her will;
(b) without her consent;
(c) with her consent, when her consent has been obtained by
putting her in fear of death or of hurt;
(d) with her consent, when the man knows that he is not her
husband and that her consent is given because she
believes that he is the man to whom she is or believes
herself to be lawfully married;
(e) with or without her consent when she is under fourteen
years of age or of unsound mind.
• Sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife is not rape,
if she has attained puberty’.

12. Rape under the VAPP Act
• Section 1- a person intentionally penetrates the vagina,
anus or mouth of another person with any other part
of his or her body or anything else without consent,
or where such consent is obtained by force or means
of threat or intimidation of any kind or by fear of
harm or by means of false and fraudulent
representation as to the nature of the act or the use of
any substance or additive capable of taking away the
will of such person or in the case of a married
person by impersonating his or her spouse.

13. Still on Rape
• Recognizes gang/group rape, stating that
offenders are jointly liable upon conviction to a
minimum sentence of 20years and fine.
• Sexual offenders register- Maintained and made
asscessible to the public

14. Compensation for Survivors
• S 2- appropriate compensation - court discretion
• S 38 - in addition to chapter IV of Constitution/
International instrument
• - medical, psychological, social and legal assistance by
accredited service providers and government agencies or
non-governmental agencies providing such assistance.
• Survivors are to be informed of the availability /
accessible.
• rehabilitation and re-integration programmes- pre-
requite skills, vocation of their choice, formal education
or access to micro credit.

15. Domestic violence/ Offences
• infliction or placing a person in fear of physical
injury;
• deprivation of liberty;
• forced financial dependence or economic
abuse;
• spousal battery;
• stalking;
• intimidation;
• forced isolation or separation from family and
friends

16. Still on DV/ Offence
• Forceful ejection from home- 2 years or N300, 000.00
or both.
• Abandonment of children, spouse and other
dependants without means of sustenance- 3 years or a
fine not exceeding N500, 000.
• Incest- minimum 10 years imprisonment without an
option of fine. With consent of both parties -5 years
without an option of fine.

17. Female Circumcision/ Genital mutilation
• 4 years or fine not exceeding N200, 000 or both
• Mojekwu v. Mojekwu court cannot invoke a
customary law which is repugnant to natural justice,
equity and good conscience

18. Widowhood practices and other
Harmful Traditional Practices
Section 15 prohibits any form of widowhood
practices or forced traditional practices this will
include widowhood practices and the
punishment of imprisonment not exceeding 4
years or fine not exceeding 500,000

19. Political Violence
• 4 years or to a fine not exceeding N500,000.00 or
both. A state actor who commits political violence
commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a
term of imprisonment not exceeding 4 years or to a
fine not exceeding N1.000,000.00 or both. Where the
offender is a state actor, the State is liable for the
offence committed by its agents and the Court shall
award appropriate compensation commensurate with
the extent and amount of damages

20. Survivor’s Protections
• any rule or regulation prohibiting or restraining the
reporting of offences
• no complainant of any offence shall be expelled,
disengaged, suspended or punished in any form
whatsoever by virtue of the action of compliance with the
provisions of this Act.
• c- protects the identity of the survivor during Court.
• Heard in camera or to exclude any person from attending
such proceedings.
• e- publication of certain information in relation to the
trial.
• f- protection order.

21. *Unique Punishments
• an attempt to commit an offence is an offence in
itself.
*Regulatory Body
• The National Agency for the prohibition of
Trafficking in Persons and other related matters
(NAPTIP)

22. Recommendations/ priority actions
for advocacy at the Federal, State
and Local levels-
*Civil Society Groups –
• Advocate for the adoption/ domestication of the VAPP Act by
other States of the Federation
• Promote awareness of the available of rehabilitation,
counselling, legal, health and other relevant services.
• Support the establishment of legal clinics in various accessible
locations (market, schools, local governments) to assist
survivors who have suffered or are suffering violence to obtain
support and advice.
• Advocate for regular training of police staff on SGBV, the VAPP
Act and on providing gender friendly services in stations.

23. Still on CSOs
• Create awareness of and encourage the utilization of police
services.
• Initiate a mapping of SGBV protection services, develop and
disseminate a service directory.
• Simplify the VAPP Act for easy understanding across the
states and facilitate access to relevant copies for duty bearers
and right holders.
• Design and implement sensitization and awareness
campaigns and programmes on SGBV using the VAPP Act.
• Initiate cases through pro bono services to test the VAPP Act
and its implementation.

24. Government agencies
• Develop regulations for the operationalization of the
VAPP Act where necessary.
• Promote and establish standardized and regulated
federal, state and community care centres, shelters and
key centres for re-integration and rehabilitation of
survivors.
• Strengthen the capacity and coverage of the emergency
line for the Police to allow timely reporting of cases of
SGBV.
• In collaboration other relevant agencies WAPA, NAPTIP
etc, establish One Stop Centers for effective SGBV
service provision and case management facilities, which
includes social welfare officers and police officers.

25. Govt. Agencies
• Simplify the VAPP Act for easy understanding
across the states and facilitate access to relevant
copies for duty bearers and right holders.
• Design and implement sensitization and
awareness campaigns and programmes on SGBV
using the VAPP Act.

26. Police
• Advocate for tools and policies for the effective response
to cases of SGBV.
• - Establish specialised gender desk in all police station,
staffed by trained officers with operating guidelines.
• - Train prosecutors and establish a specialised
prosecutor’s desk dedicated to SGBV
• - Support the registry for perpetrators of SGBV violence
and establish a system of background checks to ensure
that perpetrators/ sex offenders are not able to work with
children

27. Traditional rulers/ Religious rulers
• Ensure members are aware of VAPP Act and its
provisions for the prevention of SGBV violence.
• - Thoroughly examine the Holy books to develop key
messages that address social norms which promote or
condone SGBV which are now wholly prohibited by
the VAPP Act.
• - Employ the medium of worship and traditional
events to create awareness on actions that
congregations/members can take to prevent SGBV.
• - Institute a code of conduct in all places of worship
and religious institutions that prevent SGBV.

28. Media-
• Build the capacity of media professionals on the
provisions of VAPP and on report of SGBV
• Raise public awareness by reporting incidents of SGBV
with key analysis of the provision of the VAPP Act and
how it has been contravened.
• Identify and report on good practices on the
prevention of SGBV using the VAPP Act provisions.

29. Still on Media
• Disseminate messages to challenge harmful practices
and promote social norms.
• Use print, audio-vitual and social media to disseminate
information on SGBV and the innovative provisions of
VAPP.
• Actively seek out reported cases and issues of SGBV/
developments on VAPP Act and appropriately follow up
to promote justice.
• Ensure that cases are reported in a manner that
respects the privacy/ confidence of the survivor.

30. Law is an instrument of
change....Lets be the instruments
for VAPP Act.