Child sexual abuse in Nigeria

Child sexual abuse in Nigeria is an offence under several sections of chapter 21 of the country's criminal code.[1][2] The age of consent is 18.[3]

UNICEF reported in 2015 that one in four girls and one in ten boys in Nigeria had experienced sexual violence before the age of 18.[4] According to a survey by Positive Action for Treatment Access, over 31.4 percent of girls there said that their first sexual encounter had been rape or forced sex of some kind.[5]

The Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development reported that 1,200 girls had been raped in 2012 in Rivers, a coastal state in southeastern Nigeria.[5][6]

According to UNICEF, six out of ten children in Nigeria experience emotional, physical or sexual abuse before the age of 18, with half experiencing physical violence.[4][7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Chapter 21: Offences against morality", Criminal Code Act, Chapter 77, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  2. ↑ "Rising cases of rapes". Vanguard Newspaper. 17 January 2014.
  3. ↑ Ben Ezeamalu, "Fact check: Nigeria's Sexual Offences Bill stipulates 18 years, not 11 years, as age of consent", Premium Times, 30 June 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Release of the findings of the Nigeria Violence Against Children Survey", UNICEF Nigeria, 10 September 2015.
  5. 1 2 Is’haq Modibbo Kawu (23 May 2013). "Nigeria’s troubling epidemic of rapes", Vanguard.
  6. ↑ "Hoodlums rape 1,200 girls in Rivers", Vanguard, 27 February 2013.
  7. ↑ Chris Stein (10 September 2015). "UN: Child Abuse Prevalent in Nigeria". Voice of Nigeria.

Further reading

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