Women and Justice: Keywords

Legislation

性侵害犯罪防治法 (Sexual Assault Crime Prevention Act) (2015)

Sexual violence and rape

The Sexual Assault Crime Prevention Act (the “SACPA”) defines and aims to prevent sexual assault crimes and protect the rights of victims. The SACPA sets out the responsibilities and competencies of relevant authorities which include drafting and implementing policies and regulations, supervising and investigation incidents, producing statistics of sexual assault incidents, and establishing a national archive of sexual offenders. It also prescribes several requirements, some of the more notable ones being the establishment of Sexual Assault Prevention Centers, having all students in middle and primary schools undergo at least four hours of courses on sexual assault prevention, and obliging certain personnel to report suspected sexual assault incidents within 24 hours. Sexual assault offenders are liable to pay a fine. In certain cases, they may be ordered to receive physical and psychological treatment or counseling education. Sexual assault offenders must also register their information with, and regularly report to, the police. Repeat offenders may be imprisoned or institutionalized.

性侵害犯罪防治法（即「SACPA」）定義並旨在預防性侵害犯罪及保護被害者權利。性侵害犯罪防治法訂定相關主管機關的責任及權限，包括擬定和執行政策及法規、監督和調查事件、製作性侵害事件的統計數據，以及建立性侵害犯罪者的國家資料庫。該法還規定了幾項要求，其中較為引人注目的是建立性侵害預防中心，讓所有國中和國小學生接受至少4小時的性侵害預防課程，並要求特定人員在至少24小時內報告可疑的性侵事件。性侵害犯罪者有支付罰金的責任。在某些情況下，他們可能被命令接受身體和心理治療或諮詢教育。性侵害犯罪者還必須向警方登記其相關資訊，並定期向警方報備。累犯者可能會被處以有期徒刑或施以機構性處遇。

Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act (2015)

Domestic and intimate partner violence, Female genital mutilation or female genital cutting, Harmful traditional practices, Property and inheritance rights, Sexual violence and rape, Statutory rape or defilement

As stated in the accompanying Explanatory Memorandum, the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act aims to “prohibit[] all forms of violence against persons in private and public life, and provide[] maximum protection and effective remedies for victims and punishment of offenders.” The Act provides general protections against offenses including infliction of physical injury, coercion, offensive conduct, willfully placing a person in fear of physical injury, willfully making false statements against another person, damage to property with intent to cause distress, and deprivation of personal liberty. The Act also provides protections against offenses that affect women disproportionately, including a prohibition of female genital mutilation; forceful ejection from home; forced financial dependence or economic abuse; forced isolation; emotional, verbal and psychological abuse; harmful widowhood practices; and spousal battery, among others. Notably, the Act defines the offense of rape in Section 1(1) without an exception for marital rape, which had not traditionally been recognized as an offense (note that the Penal Code Act of 1960 does include an exception for marital rape). The Act provides a procedure for injured parties to apply for a protection order and empowers the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory with jurisdiction to hear and grant applications brought under the Act. As stated in Section 47, the Act is a product of federal legislation enacted in regard to criminal law, a residual matter over which the states have exclusive legislative power pursuant to the Nigerian Constitution. Thus, the VAPP Act applies only to the Federal Capital Territory and is not binding law in a state unless adopted by that state.