Bill To Address Incidence Of Men As Rape Victims Passes Second Hearing

A bill which seeks to remove gender restrictions for rape cases has passed a second reading at the senate.

The bill, which was sponsored by Senstor Oluremi Tinubu,  representing Lagos central, seeks an amendment to the criminal code act, 2004.

The bill also seeks to delete the statute of limitation in cases of defilement.

Tinubu is seeking that gender restrictions on rape offences be removed, as well as a proposal of stiffer penalties for kidnapping.

In her lead debate on the bill, the senator objected to the provision of section 218 of the criminal code which states that “anyone who has unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of thirteen or attempts same is guilty of felony and liable to life imprisonment or fourteen yearOluremi Tinubus imprisonment, respectively.”

According to her, prosecution of an offender under the section constitutes a limitation that should be extended as against the act’s provision which allows for only two months after the offence is committed.

“This is untenable in a country where investigations often take longer than two months”, Tinubu said.

“Considering the shortage of police personnel, relative to our population as prescribed by international standards, the two months limitation is unlikely to be met at all.

“With the development and innovation in forensic technology and the accessibility or otherwise of such infrastructure in Nigeria, rushed investigations with a view to commencing prosecutions within a two month period leave a possibility of a huge margin for error.”

The bill also seeks an amendment to section 221 of the criminal code which provides that “where a person has or attempts carnal knowledge of a girl being of or above the age of thirteen and under the age sixteen, an ‘idiot or imbecile’, he shall be liable to imprisonment for a period of two years provided that the prosecution is commenced within two months after the offence is committed.”

Tinubu further described the criminal code act which defines rape as an offence against women as “grievous”, explaining that it perpetrates the socio-cultural belief that men do not need to consent to sexual acts.

The lawmaker said “there are incidents of non-consensual sex perpetrated against the male gender”.

After the debate on the bill, Senate President Ahmad Lawan referred it to the senate committee on judiciary, human rights, and legal matters for further legislative work.