THE MENACE OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

The authorities may do well to enforce the law

The recent conviction of the husband of popular Nigerian gospel singer, Osinachi Nwachukwu, has further drawn attention to concerns over domestic violence in the country. Peter Nwachukwu was sentenced to death by hanging in connection with the deceased’s death three years ago. Mr. Nwachukwu was also convicted of emotional, verbal and psychological abuse, cruelty to children and criminal intimidation. Seventeen people, including two of the couple’s children, were called by the prosecution as witnesses during the trial. Justice Njideka Nwosu-Iheme found the widower guilty of all the charges, saying the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt. It is the latest of such convictions in recent years.

From physical and verbal abuse to rape and even murder, domestic violence manifests in many forms in the country today. While spousal abuse cuts across both sexes, women and girls are predominantly the victims. And because most of the victims are in a position of dependence, they almost always bear their pain secretly without reporting to the authorities. They include children who are sexually abused by their fathers, housewives who are serially violated and battered by their husbands and female domestic helps who endure all manner of assaults from their masters. We urge concerted efforts in dealing with the menace that comes in a range of sexually, psychologically and physically coercive acts against women and girls.

What compounds the situation is the culture of our society. Where incidents are reported or noticed by third parties, the advice is usually reconciliation. Inevitably, the victim and the abuser (where summoned) are usually advised to go home and find a way to settle their differences, rather than make public the injury or the violence. Again, most abused women who opt to remain in the most challenging of marriages claim stability for their children as the excuse for their ‘fortitude’. Curbing these tragic incidents is therefore a collective responsibility. Yet what many fail to understand is that children who witness abuse as a common occurrence in their lives are more likely to grow up believing violence is normal within marriages and are more likely to replicate similar behaviour as adults.

While it is possible to institute criminal action against abusers in the country, the investigative and prosecutorial capacities of the nation’s law enforcement agencies are a huge disincentive for taking such action. Civil suits for damages can be filed where a conviction is obtained, but again, the system takes too long, giving sufficient time for interventions by ‘well-meaning’ relations as well as religious and community leaders.

It is therefore the duty of government, at all levels, to protect the most vulnerable of our society by supporting the establishment of the necessary infrastructure and legal framework to deal with the menace. The police also need continuous training and retraining for specialisation in handling cases reported by these unfortunate women, and must be alerted to the fact that battery and assault remain felonies in our law books, even where inflicted between spouses.

The Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) (VAP) law does not only address emerging forms of violence, but it also provides commensurate penalties for offences whose sanctions had long become obsolete. Significantly, it provides for compensation for victims of violence, which had never before constituted a part of our laws as well as making it an offence for a husband to abandon his spouse, children and other dependents without sustenance, while it criminalises battery and other harmful traditional practices. Therefore, the enforcement of the VAP Act 2015 by the Police as well as other behavioural and social changes would go a long way in curbing domestic violence in our country.