Sexual Terrorism: The Nigerian Experience

Abstract

Popular discourse on violence has posited men as the subject and women as the object of violence. What follows from this analysis is a strict subject-object, active-passive, violator-violated division. Rape is often described as a “man’s act”, and being raped is a “woman’s experience”; the woman is described as the ‘perpetual victim’ and the man as the ‘potential offender’. Men are considered physically strong, sexually aggressive and by virtue of their locus standi as agents of patriarchy, they are easily identified as the subjects of violence. Women, on the other hand, are identified as victims, partly because they are considered largely incapable of existing as autonomous beings and this precludes them from being agents/ subjects of violence. This work deals with the question of sexual tourism in Nigeria by focusing on the interface of sex and violence. It studies sex and violence in their conjunctions as well as their disjunctions by focusing on the many faces of sex and violence, and its inter-relations. I argue that Rape one of the proponents of sexual terrorism in Nigeria is no longer a hidden or isolated case but a national tragedy. I concluded that Families, most especially children must be taught about the meaning and the problems of rape and it must be accommodated in the curriculum of the student from primary through secondary to the universities. More seriousness should be attached to the cases recorded and prosecuted while the law enforcement agencies must be empowered to act accordingly. Health care providers should offer first aid and support to all rape and sexual violence victims.

Popular discourse on violence has posited men as the subject and women as the object of violence. What follows from this analysis is a strict subject-object, active-passive, violator-violated division. Rape is often described as a “man’s act”, and being raped is a “woman’s experience”; the woman is described as the ‘perpetual victim’ and the man as the ‘potential offender’. Men are considered physically strong, sexually aggressive and by virtue of their locus standi as agents of patriarchy, they are easily identified as the subjects of violence. Women, on the other hand, are identified as victims, partly because they are considered largely incapable of existing as autonomous beings and this precludes them from being agents/ subjects of violence. This work deals with the question of sexual tourism in Nigeria by focusing on the interface of sex and violence. It studies sex and violence in their conjunctions as well as their disjunctions by focusing on the many faces of sex and violence, and its inter-relations. I argue that Rape one of the proponents of sexual terrorism in Nigeria is no longer a hidden or isolated case but a national tragedy. I concluded that Families, most especially children must be taught about the meaning and the problems of rape and it must be accommodated in the curriculum of the student from primary through secondary to the universities. More seriousness should be attached to the cases recorded and prosecuted while the law enforcement agencies must be empowered to act accordingly. Health care providers should offer first aid and support to all rape and sexual violence victims.