By
Cynthia Ferdinand
The history of
sexual harassment dates back to the pre-colonial era when women were accorded
little or no rights whatsoever – they were often married out against their
wish, sacrificed as virgins or married to deities where they became ready
sexual preys to the chief priests or custodians of such deities.
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While these
repressive and degrading habits have abated following the introduction of
Western education, it is unfortunate that the inhuman practice has not only
crept into our citadels of learning but has continued to assume worrisome
proportions to the consternation of parents and education authorities in the
country alike. The effects of incessant sexual harassment of female students in
higher institutions cannot be over-emphasized as it has continued to militate
against the attainment of the educational vision and objectives of many a
female folk in the country.
There have been
overwhelming narratives on sexual harassment by victims such that researchers
of international repute have described Nigerian tertiary institutions as sex
colonies were rape and other forms of coerced copulation and sexual intimacy
are practiced without sanctions. To many young Nigerians, especially female
students in tertiary institutions, sexual harassment is something of a norm.
United Nations (UN)
reports state that “one out of
three women experience sexual harassment in their lifetime”. According to
the European Union Commission recommendation: “There
are also adverse consequences arising from sexual harassment for employers. In
general terms, sexual harassment is an obstacle to the proper integration of
women into the labour market.” It
is further regrettable that over the years, aside provisions against rape and
other untoward sexual behaviours in both the Criminal and Penal Codes, there
have been no clear cut and effective legislation aimed at checkmating or
eliminating this abhorrent practice from our institutions of higher learning.
As a consequence,
it is today difficult to explicitly articulate what constitutes sexual
harassment and what sanctions there are to deter male predators. Another factor
that has helped sustained this barbaric tendency, is the seeming societal
indifference to the plight of victims due to discrepancies in views as to what
actually constitute sexual harassment against the opposite sex.
Be that as it may,
no matter the view we want to give to the menace of sexual harassment, its
cumulative, demoralizing and harmful effect cannot be glossed over. It is
unarguable that many academic careers of female students have been disrupted
and frustrated and led inexorably to depression, ostracism, mental anguish and
loss of self esteem on the part of victims of sexual harassment.
