Assent to anti-sexual harassment bill, Group appeal to Buhari

KANO — Worried by the prevalence of sexual harassment in tertiary institutions across the country, a Consortium of Civil Society Organizations under the auspices of Anti-sexual Harassment Advocacy Cluster have appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to as a matter of urgency assent to the anti-sexual harassment bill to check the menace.

A member of the consortium and Executive Director, Centre for Awareness on Justice and Accountability (CAJA), Kabiru Dakata made the appeal in a statement issued to newsmen in Kano after launching hashtag for the Anti-Sexual Harassment campaign.

Dakata said the assent to the bill is pertinent in view of the alarming rate of sexual harassment of female graduates from Nigerian tertiary institutions.

He noted that 70% of female graduates from Nigerian tertiary institutions had been sexually harassed in school, mostly by classmates and instructors, according to a 2018 World Bank Group survey.

According to him, “70% of female graduates from Nigerian tertiary institutions had been sexually harassed in school, mostly by classmates and instructors, according to a 2018 World Bank Group survey.

“In a survey conducted in 19 tertiary institutions across six states in Nigeria by a consortium of civil society organizations, including CAJA, Social Action, We the People, and led by Youth Alive Foundation (YAF), lack of clear reporting channels was one of the discouraging factors to report sexual harassment. 56% of respondents said there were no clear channels to report sexual harassment in their institutions, and they were unaware of any law protecting them against sexual harassment on campus. Also concerning is the lack of a unified law to combat the scourge in all Nigerian higher institutions.

“By launching the Anti-Sexual Harassment campaign, the Cluster will help toward addressing some of the issues outlined and toward the longer-term objectives of lending its voice toward the Timely Presidential Assent of the Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill, Establishment of Independent Sexual Harassment Prohibition Committee in tertiary institutions and Formation of the “Campaign Against Sexual Harassment (CASH)” Club. 

“In Nigeria, the National Assembly has recently passed the Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill into law. The law seeks to promote and protect ethical standards in tertiary institutions. It also seeks to protect students against sexual harassment, as well as prevent sexual harassment of students by educators in tertiary institutions.

“We however use this medium to solicit the support of the Social Media Influencers, gender-based violence activists and all concerned Nigerians, to support the campaign by promoting the Hashtags to get wider spread on both conventional and social media platforms, to have a Presidential Assent to the bill,” Dakata said.

The consortium however launched the Anti-Sexual Harassment campaign, using the following hashtags #AssentToSexualHarassmentBill,#SayNo2SGBVonCampus,#EndSexualHarassmentonCampus.

Members of the consortium comprises of CSO such as Centre for Awareness on Justice and Accountability (CAJA) Kano State, Youth Alive Foundation (YAF) Abuja, Village Debbo Care Initiative (VDCare) Kaduna State, Sefjamil Media and Development (SMD) Kano State, Joint Association of Persons with Disability (JONAPWD), Gombe State Chapter, Women`s Rights and Health Project (WRAHP) Lagos State and Connected Development – Akwa Ibom State (CODE).