Toyin Omoniyi A few days back, a 16-year-old boy was accused of defiling two little girls, aged 2 and 6 years old respectively. They all lived in the same building so he had easy access to the girls. Fortunately, their loud cries attracted their mother who came to their rescue and the boy was arrested.
This is very disturbing and seems to be getting even more rampant by the day. Is a 16 year old supposed to be having sex how much more raping someone?
Rape is condemnable and inexcusable. The victim is exposed to inhumane treatments such as stigmatization, physical violence, post-traumatic disorder, possibility of sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancy and has to live with the terrible anguish. Some cannot bear to live with the effects of rape and they terminate their lives.
Rape should never be encouraged, irrespective of the circumstances. Some people tend to blame a victim of rape because her dressing was supposedly inviting. How is that a justification for raping someone? Men have always exposed their bare chest (both the ones with six packs and the ones with one pack), yet we don’t see the women going about raping them. It should be known that women also get tempted by those alluring hard muscles that men display. So if they can exercise self- control, why can’t the men do same?
Who even made the rules that men can move about bare chested but women cannot? Why is it ok for a man to display his beautiful toned abs but weird when a woman displays her beautiful and upright breasts?
We also see mentally challenged women who walk the streets with little or no clothes on. We don’t see the men running after them to have sex. This implies that men have self-control; they only choose when to use it.
A woman’s nakedness is no excuse to rape her.
The punishment for rape in Nigeria is imprisonment for life. However, proving rape successfully in a law court is quite difficult. This needs to be looked into because this is the reason why some victims do not bother speaking out; they believe it would end in futility.
To prove rape in court, the victim is required to provide an eyewitness. But really, how many people go about raping someone in the presence of other people? Also, the law does not recognize rape among men, yet this happens as well. Men can also be victims of rape.
Some reforms that can be put into place to help reduce this heinous act are ensuring that the trial of rape cases do not take forever. Also, for victims of rape who do not want it to be made public, their identity should be protected and evidence given in closed court. The Police should also give listening ears to complainants and conduct more thorough investigations. There should also be stricter punishments for attempted rape, aiding and abetting rape, indecent assault, sodomy, paedophilia and other sexually related offences.
Ladies, if you ever find yourself in any compromising situation; scratch, pinch, bite, scream your lungs out till someone comes to your rescue or you are able to flee. It is also advisable to learn self-defence skills or at the very least, get pepper spray.
Guys, her no means no. If she means yes but says no, please go with the no. If she is drunk, leave her to sleep it off and do not take advantage of her. It is better to be called a weakling than be called a rapist. We all have mothers, aunts, sisters, daughters and/or nieces so treat her like one of your own.
Parents, do not leave your children unsupervised or in the care of strangers. Conduct routine checks on your children and encourage them to speak out on any issue that might be bothering them. The little girls would probably have been raped if they had not cried out. The boy has since been arraigned in court and is awaiting trial.
And for the men who rape little boys, hmmmm…..may God have mercy on your soul.
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