I may not fully understand the provisions of the Nigerian constitution concerning rape but I will tell what I think this is about regardless of what the proponents of the law claim it states.

The Anti-rape bill stipulates a life imprisonment for any individual found guilty of rape or sexual intercourse with children under 11 years; 10 years for incest; 10 years for child pornography or a fine of N2 million; and 14 years for sexual abuse, among others.

This definitely shouldn’t be called an Anti-rape bill, it should be a Pro-rape bill. This bill looks to me like the level of coercion acceptable to man. In as much as I applaud the part that deals with rape or sexual intercourse with children under 11 years, I am vehemently against the 14 year jail term for sexual abuse and rape of girls/boys above 11 years.

Like seriously? those guys or men that rape girls, ladies or women above 11 years are going to be treated like petty thieves?

Now, before I continue there is a difference between rape and being pressurized or cajoled to have sex. The former is my area of concern; which by my definition means to forcefully or violently subdue someone into having non-consensual sex without any form of mutual admittance into the act.

The effects of rape on a child, is possibly the same as that on an adult, though the former may slightly be more. However both her devilish means to a fatal end and should both have the maximum sentence.

Notwithstanding the age of the victims, the offenders should all get the maximum penalty. Now that’s putting it mildly, for those that gang-rape, their hearts should be ripped completely for life. I mean, what happens when a lady, be it 18 years or more is gang-raped? Do those men that earn millions by just sitting on fancy seats in the red chambers of the ‘NASS’ complex know what it means for a lady regardless of her age to be gang raped by full-blooded men? I’ll bet they don’t. Are we now saying that the offenders would only suffer for their crimes for 14 years probably with an option of fine self? Pray tell, we can’t possibly be encouraging loose cannons to go on a raping spree?

Worse still, they know the victims hardly come out to share their predicaments. Why would she want to face such stigma from our judgmental and hypocritical society when all the offender gets is a 14 year jail term? That’s so not okay! Those who passed such bill should first be jailed for the 14 years they proposed for rape before calling for a review of the bill

When did the age limit for adulthood become 11 years?

If my understanding of the provisions of the bill is at optimal level then it means any form of sexual abuse against a person above 11 years will not be fully considered a crime. But why?

Does this bill really protect women and children from sex offenders? I’ll be damned to agree. Do these men who would rather throw seats and engage in full-blown scuffles against one another than talk holistically, know that victims of rape in Nigeria are probably doomed for life? Do they know what it is for a young girl, young boy, a lady or a woman to be raped. Its not just an ugly event that happens for some few minutes or hours o! depending on how evil the person/persons are. These people’s minds’ are actually raped for life till the sound of the trumpet. Go find a rape victim to tell you the sad tale of what it is to be one. But again, the problem is that you may never find any.

Rape victims do not only lose their minds when they fall victims, sadly they lose their tongues too. Its like a death wish; they are psychologically and emotionally rendered null and void. The trauma that becomes their most-trusted allies taunt them so hard that suicide seemingly appears a remedy. The feeling should be like never wanting to wake up from a coma. If help doesn’t come fast, they never see, feel or touch life again. In fact a rape victim who was a virgin prior to the rape may just imagine herself condemned to the gallows.

So why shouldn’t the people who put their lives in such abysmal state be made to suffer for their crimes for life?

…And to imagine that some men actually go all the way to post the insanity online. That’s the height of social decadence that we’ve been subjected to.

The groups set up to educate women on ways to defend themselves against rape may be doing a good job but, please where are the groups teaching men not to rape? The women will have nothing to prevent if only the ‘men in question’ are sensitized on how to think with their brains rather than with their rusty rods of mass destruction.

Though ‘we’ men wish sex can come easy anytime we feel an urge for it, it should never be an excuse for rape, never!

There are brothels scattered around, men should go vent their spleen on the whores there if they must. Its their money’s worth, yeah? Rape should never come under our radar.

In India, young girls fear rape more than death itself because either ways they are dead. The system there just supports rape and empowers the offenders while the victim is indirectly condemned to death especially if she speaks out. Its the same or even worse in many Islamic countries where their views on women advocacy is highly suspect not even in a society where children are made brides. I know the situation here has not reached such evil crescendo but should we take a seat and sip vodka while we watch on as rape scenes become open for general viewing?

If you ask me, any form of rape should be treated as a murder case, gbagbe! Yet rape is one of the topmost crimes in the world that most frequently goes unpunished. Is it because it’s a man’s world? (I know some ladies will disagree) How many of the cases even get to be reported to start with? There again you can’t blame the victims for not speaking out. The provisions of the law states clearly that to nail a supposed rapist or sex offender or to prove that a rapist is guilty of his crimes beyond all reasonable doubt you must first bring a witness who would validate your account. Abeg, who the witness wan be? The rapist? Or a member of the rape crew?

Invariably the law is saying that it will almost be impossible to convict a sex offender, shekina! This leaves the victim worse off for it. She would have still been the better for it if she didn’t report the crime, right?

Those who think a sex offender doesn’t deserve to be put away for life; you’ll know pain when you find yourself crying without a visible reason.

Truth be told, many men don’t see the act of sexual coercion on a helpless female as a big deal. It is just another way to display their manliness and maybe their sexual prowess. Let’s do the needful by serving them the maximum penalty if that will make them see rape for the evil crime it is.

There comes the blame game when the perpetrators of the crime are seldom viewed as the cause, instead they blame the victim for not abiding by the ground rules of sex.

So tell me why some men won’t see rape as a last resort in bedding a woman when the society permits such evil? Who are even the major players of such societies? Is it not the same men? What the society fails to realize is that rape is not a woman’s issue, it’s a man’s issue because women don’t rape women.

Also, the real pain for the victim is not even the rape incident, the real pain comes when the society or the law that should protect only makes her feel she deserved it. The victims become wounded and left with no means of healing.The situation has become so bad that even the victims sometime blame themselves for letting off their guards.Men even hear girls blame their fellow girls for subjecting themselves to sexual abuse giving such men reasons why they shouldn’t be held responsible when they stoop so low to rape the weaker sex. They even go the extra mile to joke about rape with men, then both laugh their hearts out. I’ll bet the next time, it will be the men joking about it, only that this time the girl would be wailing not laughing.

Any man who loves to non-con sensually bring a woman to painful submission with every manner of assault in his arsenal just to defile the woman, belongs to the wilds. They should replace the extinct animals in Yankari Games Reserve. They should probably be put away for life to serve as a deterrent to others; Even Demons know that…

In as much as calling for a life sentence for all categories of rape might sound a little bit extreme, albeit, don’t you agree its justice served? How they choose to perpetrate the crime shouldn’t matter, its the nature and motive of the crime that counts, right?

To drive home my point exactly; you can’t possibly sentence a serial killer or a person accused of genocide attacks to life imprisonment then hand someone who kills only one person in his entire life 14 years. All of them be murderers abi? So you can’t treat anyone differently. Its just that one of them breaks more hearts than the other. But then, why should any of them even commit the crime in the first place.

Same applies to rape, you won’t say that because this offender was involved in a gang rape, so he should go away for life, while the other guy that rapes only one person gets 14 years or more. One evil binds them together; all of them be rapist. You can’t treat any differently. What if the latter has always been a rapist and the particular crime is being held for is just one out of many he committed in the past but the girls never spoke out? So you see, neither of the criminals should be pardoned.

Until ‘we’ men sit down to think about the effects of sexual abuse and violence on ladies or loved ones that place their trust in us and probably even seek our protection, only then will our penises stop taking us to places our heads ‘when in position’ wouldn’t venture. And just maybe we would see a world devoid of sexual abuse and the rapists going into extinction.

Let those who profess a genuine concern declare their stand on this.

Rape of any form is not okay!

Lekan Linkin Lofinji