Stakeholders in Gombe State have appealed to President Bola Tinubu to assent to the Sexual Harassment Prohibition in Tertiary Education Institutions bill currently before him.
They made the appeal in Gombe on Tuesday while dialoguing on curbing Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) as part of the activities marking this year’s edition of ‘16 Days of Activism’ annual programme.
Speaking during the event, Mr Ishaku Adamu, Gombe State chairman, Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD), said the bill when assented to would help protect students from any form of sexual-based violence which he said was on the increase.
Adamu said his association, which was a member of anti-sexual harassment advocacy cluster, had the mandate of campaigning for the passage of the bill.
“Today we are here in Gombe to have a stakeholders’ meeting to discuss the issue of sexual violence, particularly around tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
“It means a lot because there are so many laws in the country talking about sexual harassment, be it at the state or national level.
“But there is no particular law that speaks directly to the issue on campuses and because of the prevalence of the issue, there is a need for that law and that is why it has been passed by the National Assembly,” he said.
Explaining further, Adamu who is the coordinator of the meeting, said the bill specifically addressed the issue of sexual harassment on campus, which according to him, was unique when compared with other existing laws.
He said sexual-based violence was on the increase and more worrisome was the fact that most perpetrators got away with their crimes without punishment.
“I appeal to Mr President as the father of the nation to kindly support the future generation by assenting to this particular bill so that this issue will be addressed once and for all in our in tertiary institutions in Nigeria,” he said.
Also speaking, USAID Local Government Manager State2State Activity in Gombe State, Hajia Zariyatu Abubakar, said the call was coming at a time that sexual harassment cases were on the rise.
Abubakar said the bill was important to the mental health of young people in tertiary institutions in view of the impact of sexual harassment on victims’ mental and psychological state.
According to her, sexual harassment affects the lives of victims negatively and destroys the dreams and aspirations of young people who obtain admission to learn and contribute to national development after graduation.
“It (the law) is something that should have come way back before now. It should have been in place for over 30 years.
“We are calling on the president to assent to the bill because the mental state of young people is at stake and sexual harassment has a way of having effect on the victim for life.
“Having a law, an instrument that will protect students is very important and it will go along way in curtailing the prevalence of sexual-based violence,” she said.
She added that with the law in place, Nigerian universities would be sanitised, the lecturers would be more responsible and the trust of having children in the universities would be gained.
“The provisions of the bill make it such that it is not just students that are protected but lecturers as well from false accusations.
“So, that will also go a long way in bringing about sanity within the education system in Nigeria,” Abubakar said.
Mrs Zainab Tijjani, the gender-based desk officer, Gombe State University (GSU), called for concerted efforts and advocacies in addressing sexual harassment.
According to Tijjani, victims must always speak out so that perpetrators can get punished for their crimes.
On her part, Ms Paris Desire, a 300 level Political Science student of GSU, said the bill when assented would make female students feel safer and confident to study without apprehension.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting was sponsored by USAID in collaboration with Palladium through the Centre for Awareness on Justice and Accountability (CAJA).
NAN also reports that the bill was first introduced in 2016. However, legislative work was not concluded at the time the Assembly ended and it was reintroduced in 2019.
Amongst other things, the bill seeks to promote and protect ethical standards in tertiary institutions, protect students against sexual harassment, and prevent sexual harassment of students by educators in tertiary institutions.
It also proposes up to 14 years’ jail term for offenders.
