The International Family Foundation (IFF), has condemned in very strong terms the increasing rate of rape cases worldwide, stressing that all hands should be on deck to ensure that the unfortunate and reprehensible situation is not allowed to become a norm in our society.
The President of IFF, Prof Emeka E. Oguzie stated this while addressing journalists at the foundations headquarters in Abuja.
Prof Oguzie frowned at the increasing rate of rape cases, as recorded in the United Nations’ statistical reports from 65 countries which indicate that more than 250,000 cases of rape or attempted rape were recorded by the police annually.
He regretted that Africa has the highest number of child sexual abuse cases of about 34.4 percent. As at 2004, sixty (60) percent of children involved in child trafficking from Africa to Europe were Nigerians, while between 2012 and 2012, about thirty (30) percent of women in Nigeria were subjected to one form of domestic violence or another.
According to Prof Oguzie, “findings from a national survey carried out in 2014 on violence against children in Nigeria, revealed that one out of four females acknowledged experiencing sexual violence in childhood with approximately seventy (70) percent of them claimed having more than one experience of the ugly incident. The same study also showed that 24.8 percent of females aged between 18 and 24 experienced sexual abuse before attaining the age of 18, out of which five (5) percent cried for help while only 3.5 percent had their cries responded to”.
He described rape, sexual and domestic violence as criminal, immoral, anti-social and dehumanizing incidents that, aside leaving grievous and lasting scars on the psyche of the victims, have no justification whatsoever.
The IFF President noted that in addition to the federal governments launching of a “sex offenders register”, the foundation will soon embark on mass mobilization, education and sensitization of the people to highlight and emphasize the dangers of rape with a view to addressing the hazard and including it as a subject matter in the educational curriculum.
“We will use the social and other media to inform and educate the youths on the effects and consequences of rape, sexual abuse and other anti-social behaviours, with a view to addressing the menace”.
