Circumcise the female child, forcefully eject your spouse and go to jail, says VAPP – Ozioma Onyenweaku

Ozioma Onyenweaku

The Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act 2015, VAPP, is an Act protecting citizens against all forms of violence. It was signed into law on 28th May, 2015 by the President. The Act is applicable to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, and are being passed into law in the different states of the federation.

VAPP Act is well appreciated for taking a wide and an all embracing coverage of violence. It covers physical violence; psychological violence, sexual violence; harmful traditional practices; and socio-economic violence. Under VAPP Act rape, spousal battery, forceful ejection from home, economic abuse, harmful widowhood practices, female circumcision or genital mutilation, abandonment of children, harmful traditional practices, harmful substance attacks such as acid baths, political violence, forced isolation and separation from family and friends, incest, indecent exposure, violence by state actors such as security personnel, and all other forms of violence are offences and are punishable under the law.

The Act earns commendation in its expansion of the meaning and scope of rape. Under existing laws, rape was sort of limited in definition as it was only presented as an offence only against female upon penetration. Under VAPP Act, rape is established when a person intentionally penetrates the vagina or anus or mouth of another person with any other part of his or her body or anything else without consent; and even if with consent, the consent must not have been obtained by force or threat or intimidation of any kind or by fear of harm or by means of false and fraudulent representation as to the nature of the act or the use of any substance or additive which is capable of taking away the will of such a person; or in the case of a married person the consent was obtained by impersonating his or her spouse.

From this wide definition of rape, rape is no longer gender based; and also not limited to the use of the primary sex organs. The fact that a man can also be raped is captured by the Act. Oral and anal sex has now been brought under rape.
I particularly appreciate the fact that female circumcision or genital mutilation which hitherto has been seen simply as cultural practice is now made an offence punishable under the Act.

Both the person who performs the circumcision and the person who engages the person are both guilty of an offence punishable with up to four (4) years imprisonment.

An attempt to carry out female circumcision is equally a punishable attracting two (2) years imprisonment; so also a person who advises, aids or abets or counsels another to perform female circumcision on any one.

One other impressive aspect of the VAPP Act is that abandonment of children, spouse and other dependants without means of sustenance are included under domestic offences punishable by law. For instance, a man abandoning his responsibilities to his family and or absconding with a lover is now an offence punishable under the Act. It attracts not less than one year imprisonment with or without a fine.

Interestingly, it is equally a punishable offence for any marriage partner to forcefully eject his or her partner from the home; or refuse the person access to the home. This attracts up to two (2) years imprisonment.

Note also the provision against spousal battery. The act provides that a person who batters his or her spouse commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 3 years or to a fine not exceeding N200,000.00 or both. So the Act recognizes that a wife can also batter her husband. Many men are happy about this even when they know that it is not a common thing to find a situation where wives batter their husbands.

The VAPP Act also makes incest a punishable offence. So those fathers sleeping with their daughters or brothers sleeping with their sisters, or uncles sleeping with their nieces and so on, should take note that such incestuous acts attract five (5) years imprisonment without an option of fine.

Plausible is the provision for compensation to victim. Before now, it was only imprisonment and fine, and the victim goes with no thought to his or her loss.

Unfortunately, since the passage of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act in 2015 only fourteen (14) states and the FCT out of the 36 States have incorporated the VAPP into their state laws. The states are Oyo, Ogun, Lagos, Osun, Ekiti, Edo, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, Benue, Cross River, Kaduna, FCT, Plateau, and Abia. Bauchi state is on the mark to sign it into law.
Increasing rate of violence against persons in and around us should move those states dragging their feet to hasten up and do the needful. VAPP is a welcome development.