STRATEGIES FOR REDUCING RAPE AGAINST WOMEN IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Rape and other sexual violence offences are on the increase today in Nigeria. There are cases of fathers raping their daughters, brothers raping their sisters, neighbours raping their follow neighbour’s daughters and children, uncles defiling their sisters and nieces, pastors and priests abusing children entrusted to their care. The list is endless. This paper, therefore, is aimed to establish effective strategies for reducing this in human act called rape, and other sexual violence offences in Nigeria. The paper extensively explained what rape is and went further to point out the psychological motivations of rapists. The rising cases of sexual violence in Nigeria were explored adequately. The effects of rape on the victim were satisfactorily elucidated. Strategies for reducing rape, and preventive measures to nip the cases of rape in the bud were equally treated. The paper concluded and recommended that government should enforce stricter measures like castration or life jail, among others, against perpetrators of sexual violence and rape in Nigeria.