Senate proposes 14-yr jail term for sexual predators in tertiary institutions

Prison facility

Senate has taken a step further in stopping sexual harassment, especially in tertiary institutions as it proposes up to 14 years jail term, with a minimum of 5 years, without an option of fine for any educator who commits sexual offences.

The proposed legislation titled “A Bill for an Act to Prevent, Prohibit and Redress Sexual Harassment of Students in Tertiary Educational Institutions and for other matters connected therewith 2019”, which has 27 clauses, passed second reading in the upper legislative chamber.

The bills, sponsored by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege and Senate Leader, Senator Abdullahi Yahaya, respectively, defines sexual offences as including: sexual intercourse with a student or demands for sex from a student or a prospective student or intimidating or creating a hostile or offensive environment for the student by soliciting for sex or making sexual advances.

Other forms of sexual harassment identified in the bill are grabbing, hugging, kissing, rubbing, stroking, touching, pinching the breasts or hair or lips or hips or buttocks or any other sensual part of the body of a student; or sending by hand or courier or electronic or any other means naked or sexually explicit pictures or videos or sex related objects to a student, and whistling or winking at a student or screaming, exclaiming, joking or making sexually complimentary or uncomplimentary remarks about a student’s physique or stalking a student.

Presenting the bill, Senator Omo-Agege, said “the most effective way to deal with the offence of sexual harassment in our tertiary institutions is to penalise the very impropriety of the act, with or without consent.”

According to him, sexual harassment must be defined in tertiary educational institutions as statutory rape with strict liability for offenders to be prosecuted easily.

On the extension of the bill to primary, secondary schools, worship centres and work place, Omo-Agege said doing so will not be necessary because the Criminal and Penal codes already adequately deals with these categories with sufficient clarity.

He, however, stressed that the bill prescribes expulsion for students who falsely accuse educators of sexual harassment.

“An educator whose character is maligned is at liberty to sue for defamation under the law of defamation which is well-settled in our jurisprudence and needs no duplication in this bill,” he added.

The deputy senate president further explained that the bill, if becomes law, would remove mutual consent between a student and educator as a defence would elevate sexual harassment to statutory rape or a strict liability offence.

In his remarks, the Senate President, Dr. Ahmad Lawan said that the bill was apt and therefore directed the Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters for further legislative work and report back later.