On this International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, Insight Initiative for Community and Social Development (IICSD) wishes to celebrate stakeholders, youth and gender based organisations, civil society, human rights crusaders, government institutions and other key partners who have continued to raise the bar of advocacy, support and campaign towards eliminating the scourge of sexual and gender based violence in Osun State and Nigeria by extension.
We also note with all sense of responsibility the enactment of laws related to SGBV and Violence Against Persons (VAPP) in Osun State. We hold that these laws prescribe the required globally accepted requirements for punishment of offenders in SGBV cases.
However, we have noted that while these efforts to domesticate the laws have been put in place by relevant stakeholders in times past, it is yet to be fully optimised by the law enforcement authorities.
In the last few years, evidence from the cases handled by our organisation has shown that while perpetrators of SGBV cases are arrested and taken to court in Osun State, such matters are administered with simple legal provisions such as the Penal Code which prescribes menial punishment for such offenders. The Osun State Government and law enforcement agents need to take the fight against Sexual and Gender based violence a step higher by fully implementing the laws.
From our research especially with cases like rape, the minimum punishment is between 7 to 14 years of imprisonment, which is a stiffer deterrent than the bail and three months jail that the penal code provides and that is what we are asking for.
The Osun situation is dear to us and all stakeholders must come on board to develop strategies to action the state government and other development partners to enforce this laws, so that our state can be sane of the multitude who engage in SGBV daily, knowing the laws are not stiff enough to punish offenders.
We call on every discerning mind to join us in this campaign as we seek to make our state secual and gender based violence free.
Signed
Sodiq Yusuf
Communications Officer
Insight Initiative for Community and Social Development