Rape is forceful sexual intercourse or other sexual activity upon another person, without their consent- English Dictionary

It is no longer a news that this month started with a rape case and last year June also started with a rape case. Rape is a crime that is punishable under the law.

Raping an individual can create a long lasting psychological truama, which they have to deal with all their lives. This has affected some marriages and some relationships (where family role is being played). The victim; male or female may find it difficult to have a good sexual activity with the other gender in case of marriage. It has also broken homes due to the understanding of the damage done to the victim is not felt.

Why is rape still an issue in this generation of free lifestyle; where we have brothels?
Sex workers popularly known as Prostitute are available. With a little token one can get his required satisfaction than putting their fellow being in a truama for the rest of their lives.

Some will argue that going to prostitute or brothels will affect one's destiny. And raping will not affect the victim's destiny?

In time past, some have complained that it is caused by dressing. Isn't there freedom to what you want to wear? Was it their fault that you didn't train your mind to overlook?

A man that rapes a six months old baby, was it her dressing? The lady on hijab that was raped, was it her dressing? The woman and the female daughters that raped the ten year old boy, was it his dressing too?

Rape offenders should be punished, some have proposed stiff methods like castration, death, etc.

While others have called for the criminal code of Nigeria, section 357 and 358 ("having unlawful carnal knowledge of a woman or girl, without her consent, or with her consent, if the consent is obtained by force or by means of threats or intimidation of any kind, or by fear of harm, or by means of false act, or, in case of a married woman, be personating her husband." This offence is punishable by imprisonment for life, with or without caning.) to come into forceful use.

This law is faulty. The Criminal Code is only applicable mainly in the Southern part of this country but not as the penal code in the north - Section 55(1)(d) of the Penal Code of Northern Nigeria provides that an assault by a man on a woman is not an offense if they are married, if native law or custom recognizes such “correction” as lawful, and if there is no grievous hurt.)

The Criminal law under that section doesn't believe a man can be raped, it doesn't see marital rape as a crime.

The law on Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act: Section 1 (“A person commits the offence of rape if he or she intentionally penetrates the vagina, anus or mouth of another person with any other part of his/her body or anything else without consent, or the consent is obtained by force”) is more encompassing than the other two mentioned

Though not to popular, but it recognises rape of a man, Oral sexual violence, marital rape and others.

*Way out*

There have been several calls on training the male child. Wasn't he trained before? Training him to respect a woman's body. Didn't the various religions hint on that plus the 'negatives' of women told at home to some of us? And how your destiny will be stopped and among others.

Are we aware that children do retrain themselves after being trained at home while they grow? With the influence of environment (peer group, school and the society.)

Just like robbery, kidnapping, rituals, etc. Those involved might have also been trained in their various homes. But had retrained themselves.

Training and retraining are there but what happens to individual consciousness?

What happens to the survived victims?

Training the male child to respect the woman's body is good for those who weren't taught but also finding a way to help the survived victims of rape from the psychological torture will be good.

Our religious bodies and religions have a lot to do. They are the moral teachers.

Look at it from our academic institutions' teachers and those in the primary and post primary, hugging female students, which from individualistic tendentiousness, is wrong. This will aggravate libidos that can lead into rape. Or in your widest imagination, you think those guys or ladies (rapists) come from outside the domains of the rapees (victims).

The above led to a university in the east to ban hugging between male lecturers and female students. You think they do not know what and why it is necessary to do so?

Some of our sisters who are saucy. When approached by male species, instead of talking to such men politely, they rain insults on them. In return, it exposes the female gender to danger of threat which rape can be one of them. The girl child also needs to be educated on this. That they expose themselves to danger when they insult these admirers. A lot needs to done here.

Rape may not stop on this earth. It can only be reduced. I may be compelled to say it is an element of the society and therefore, it functions in the light of Functionalism merge in Emile Durklem's Social change

My case is, how do the victims survive this psychological torture?

Is there any one to talk to? But male ego weighs the Men down here.

Rape is never and can never be a good experience for anyone.

Let's take it from the medical line. The difference between vaccines and drugs could be illustrative to the rape situation in Nigeria.

Drug: for cure

Vaccine: the dead virus is injected into the person system/body to cause a resistance for the live virus so as not to destroy or weaken the cells. It stops the virus in totality.

Based on the above...

We have the drug but not the vaccine. Should we not administer the drug while we wait for the vaccine?

Take malaria as example, no matter how you treat malaria, it will come back because there is no vaccine for it but we have the drugs.

All the measures put before and towards these rape issues have not brought an end to it. Why not this new method(of training the male child) we propose be back up with way out of the psychological truama(drug) the survived victims may face while we wait for what will stop it(vaccine)?

Let's also consider not judging them, it could also be a way of helping them out of the trauma too.

If you think her dressing is inviting you and she says No...
If you ask her and she says No...
If you cannot hold yourself...

Brothels are there.
Social workers are recognised by the law.
Those are not good either, but it's better than you being the cause of someone's trauma.

Say No to Rape.

(C) Ferdinard Victory Udochukwu, 2020