Dr.
Princess Olufemi-Kayode is the founder and Executive Director of Media
Concern Initiative (MediaCon), a non-governmental organisation. She is
passionate about the welfare of children and believes that if nothing is
done, the beauty of childhood will be lost for today’s child. In this
interview with JULIANA FRANCIS, she talks about the danger and effect of
pornographic movies on kids. Excerpt;
Do we have statistics of kids’ sexually abused in Nigeria?
Statistics are difficult to gather. The problem with statistics is that nobody is collating data. What you can get is data from different organisations. Even the police are not collating. The difficulty is also that not all cases that gets to hospitals, get to police. We have our own data at MEDIACON. There’s no one place in any state that you can go and get data on rape. It’s a major challenge.
Would you agree that there’s increase in sexual violence and rape?
Sexual violence is a global problem. It’s not a Nigerian problem. Sexual violence is on the rise all over the world. It’s happening everyday and everywhere!
Is the Nigerian government doing enough to curtail rise of sexual abuse and rape?
It’s interesting that there are so many people out there now; purportedly saying they know how to handle the problem. But it’s not something a single person can do! It’s supposed to be a collective response. You can’t cut off any sector out of the work front. The work forces include the religious bodies and the criminal justice system. What we need is to really boost the capacity of the police and judiciary. It’s not that they don’t know the law, but they lack the capacity in being able to deal with issues. They need to begin to look at the victimcentered- structural approach.
They should begin to center on the victims, not on the perpetrators. The victims carry deep scars for the rest of their lives. They can be helped once they come out. To reduce the effect on their lives and the future, whether they are children or adults. Right now, the government is talking about revamped bill. The issue is that there must be a legislation law on ground before talks about life imprisonment for rapists. How many have been sentenced to life imprisonment?
Is the law helping?
The issue is not a new law, even though I’m not against a new law. One of the reasons MEDIACON had never pushed for a new law is because we found that these laws are already there! A rapist is supposed to go to prison for 14 years, but who had ever been sentenced for 14 years? We have these laws, they are there. Now sexual violence is too wide to be lumped together with domestic violence. If you look at South Africa sexual violence laws, it has been reviewed.
What do you think are the causes of sexual abuse?
For me, it’s because of the increase in population. People who are abused end up abusing others. We’re in a highly sexualised world. Children to children abuse are higher than adult to children abuse. Teenagers are experimenting with smaller kids. There’s a high level sexual activities going on among the children. Sex is on the streets. 50 years back, people used to be abused. Back then, it was not as bad as today.
Today, children can pick up pornographic movies or magazines for N100 or even less. They go online and watch pornographies. The cybercafés operators allow them to do this. After watching this, they practice on smaller children. And smaller kids who watch sex on TV would want to practice too. We have a huge problem. Developed countries that have statistics still tell us that the number of people who do not come out to say they’ve been abused are more than those who had come out. The US has low conviction rape, even with their capacity. Kids in the US are the ones now using others for prostitution or trafficking. They too have their own problems. Let us sit down and solve our own problems.
MEDIACON has always trained policemen in handling rape cases and victim, is it helping?
In fairness, we have a very dynamic national police force. When we train policemen, they would be posted to another place. Some of them would be moved to traffic sections. So we still have an issue with the police structure. Although now, we have a gender policewoman. We are hoping there would be change.
There was a time you handled a case where two sisters were violated by an HIV positive man. What became of that case?
The police said they couldn’t find evidence on the girls. This is true because our virginal heals very fast, especially if he had been ‘fingering’ them. Police allowed him to go, threatening that they would get him if he continues.
What can parents do to safeguard their kids and wards?
Parents of today need to be conscious and begin to learn more on how to interact with their children and keep communication open. They should also start to educate children earlier. They should be closer to their kids. Abuse, especially for the kids, starts with someone in authority or trust in the life of the child. Parents should start early to teach their kids sexual education. When they ask questions, respond to them. If you don’t know it, let them know you don’t know it. Parents should always try to be informed because of their kids. Your child needs to look up to you as the expert.
We have cases of fathers who rape their daughters.
That’s what I was talking about. We need to look at our own diverse culture. In Nigeria, a lot of women are under the impression that once you’re married to a man, you have to stay married to him in spite of whatever he does. They think they have to stay with him no matter the situation. And if she decides to leave the man, where does she go to? We don’t have structures in place that supports women unlike overseas.
In overseas, once the woman calls the police, the man will have to leave the house. This is part of the thing that helps women to stand strong. These are some of the things we need to be looking at. It is very tasking for people like us, working in this centre.
To get accommodation for mother and child, furnish it, and get a new school, is not easy. You have to allow her to start a new life. Start a business. The society doesn’t have place for these women. Family members wouldn’t want to take her and her kids in because they too have their own problems. These women are in a dilemma, including those who are educated. Many of them don’t have a dime. Just N10, 000 can make a difference in the life of such women. We have a lot of issues in this country.
Do we have statistics of kids’ sexually abused in Nigeria?
Statistics are difficult to gather. The problem with statistics is that nobody is collating data. What you can get is data from different organisations. Even the police are not collating. The difficulty is also that not all cases that gets to hospitals, get to police. We have our own data at MEDIACON. There’s no one place in any state that you can go and get data on rape. It’s a major challenge.
Would you agree that there’s increase in sexual violence and rape?
Sexual violence is a global problem. It’s not a Nigerian problem. Sexual violence is on the rise all over the world. It’s happening everyday and everywhere!
Is the Nigerian government doing enough to curtail rise of sexual abuse and rape?
It’s interesting that there are so many people out there now; purportedly saying they know how to handle the problem. But it’s not something a single person can do! It’s supposed to be a collective response. You can’t cut off any sector out of the work front. The work forces include the religious bodies and the criminal justice system. What we need is to really boost the capacity of the police and judiciary. It’s not that they don’t know the law, but they lack the capacity in being able to deal with issues. They need to begin to look at the victimcentered- structural approach.
They should begin to center on the victims, not on the perpetrators. The victims carry deep scars for the rest of their lives. They can be helped once they come out. To reduce the effect on their lives and the future, whether they are children or adults. Right now, the government is talking about revamped bill. The issue is that there must be a legislation law on ground before talks about life imprisonment for rapists. How many have been sentenced to life imprisonment?
Is the law helping?
The issue is not a new law, even though I’m not against a new law. One of the reasons MEDIACON had never pushed for a new law is because we found that these laws are already there! A rapist is supposed to go to prison for 14 years, but who had ever been sentenced for 14 years? We have these laws, they are there. Now sexual violence is too wide to be lumped together with domestic violence. If you look at South Africa sexual violence laws, it has been reviewed.
What do you think are the causes of sexual abuse?
For me, it’s because of the increase in population. People who are abused end up abusing others. We’re in a highly sexualised world. Children to children abuse are higher than adult to children abuse. Teenagers are experimenting with smaller kids. There’s a high level sexual activities going on among the children. Sex is on the streets. 50 years back, people used to be abused. Back then, it was not as bad as today.
Today, children can pick up pornographic movies or magazines for N100 or even less. They go online and watch pornographies. The cybercafés operators allow them to do this. After watching this, they practice on smaller children. And smaller kids who watch sex on TV would want to practice too. We have a huge problem. Developed countries that have statistics still tell us that the number of people who do not come out to say they’ve been abused are more than those who had come out. The US has low conviction rape, even with their capacity. Kids in the US are the ones now using others for prostitution or trafficking. They too have their own problems. Let us sit down and solve our own problems.
MEDIACON has always trained policemen in handling rape cases and victim, is it helping?
In fairness, we have a very dynamic national police force. When we train policemen, they would be posted to another place. Some of them would be moved to traffic sections. So we still have an issue with the police structure. Although now, we have a gender policewoman. We are hoping there would be change.
There was a time you handled a case where two sisters were violated by an HIV positive man. What became of that case?
The police said they couldn’t find evidence on the girls. This is true because our virginal heals very fast, especially if he had been ‘fingering’ them. Police allowed him to go, threatening that they would get him if he continues.
What can parents do to safeguard their kids and wards?
Parents of today need to be conscious and begin to learn more on how to interact with their children and keep communication open. They should also start to educate children earlier. They should be closer to their kids. Abuse, especially for the kids, starts with someone in authority or trust in the life of the child. Parents should start early to teach their kids sexual education. When they ask questions, respond to them. If you don’t know it, let them know you don’t know it. Parents should always try to be informed because of their kids. Your child needs to look up to you as the expert.
We have cases of fathers who rape their daughters.
That’s what I was talking about. We need to look at our own diverse culture. In Nigeria, a lot of women are under the impression that once you’re married to a man, you have to stay married to him in spite of whatever he does. They think they have to stay with him no matter the situation. And if she decides to leave the man, where does she go to? We don’t have structures in place that supports women unlike overseas.
In overseas, once the woman calls the police, the man will have to leave the house. This is part of the thing that helps women to stand strong. These are some of the things we need to be looking at. It is very tasking for people like us, working in this centre.
To get accommodation for mother and child, furnish it, and get a new school, is not easy. You have to allow her to start a new life. Start a business. The society doesn’t have place for these women. Family members wouldn’t want to take her and her kids in because they too have their own problems. These women are in a dilemma, including those who are educated. Many of them don’t have a dime. Just N10, 000 can make a difference in the life of such women. We have a lot of issues in this country.
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