70 per cent Female Students In Nigeria Experience Sexual Harassment — WHO

Following incessant sexual harassment of female students in tertiary institutions in Nigeria, a cluster of Civil Society Organisations; The Anti-sexual Harassment Advocacy Cluster, have joined forces together to launch an Anti-Sexual Harassment campaign, using the some hashtags including #AssentToSexualHarassmentBill, #SayNo2SGBVonCampus, #EndSexualHarassmentonCampus.

According to 2018 World Bank Group survey, 70 percent of female graduates from Nigerian tertiary institutions had been sexually harassed in school, by classmates and instructors.

The research which conducted in 19 tertiary institutions across six states in Nigeria by a consortium of civil society organizations, including CAJA, Social Action, We the People, and led by Youth Alive Foundation (YAF), showed lack of clear reporting channels as one of the discouraging factors to report sexual harassment.

“Lack of a unified law to combat the scourge in all Nigerian higher institutions. Sexual harassment includes unwanted, inappropriate, and offensive sexual advances like repeated and unwanted sexual invitations; insistent requests for dates/dinner/drinks; phone calls, messages, among others solicitation of sexual activity or other sex-linked behavior by promise of reward (overt or subtle), sexual comments, touching the someone’s body, hair or clothes, standing close or brushing up against another person, kissing sounds, howling and smacking.

“In Nigeria, the National Assembly has recently passed the Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill into law. The law seeks to promote and protect ethical standards in tertiary institutions. It also seeks to protect students against sexual harassment, as well as prevent sexual harassment of students by educators in tertiary institutions.

“We want to use this medium to solicit the support of the Social Media Influencers, gender-based violence activists and all concerned Nigerians, to support the campaign by promoting the Hashtags to get wider spread on both conventional and social media platforms, to have a Presidential Assent to the bill.

“This Project is supported by the strengthening civic advocacy and local engagement (SCALE) project through the United States agency for international development (USAID). The contents of this message are the sole responsibility of the Anti-Sexual Harassment Advocacy Cluster and do not reflect the views of the United States government.

By Ebunoluwa Sessou

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2022/09/70-per-cent-female-students-in-nigeria-experience-sexual-harassment-who/