COMMUNIQUE FOR CAPACITY BUILDING WORKSHOP FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES IN SOKOTO STATE ON PREVENTION AND RESPONSES TO SGBV/VAWG/HP AND PROMOTION OF SRHR

INTRODUCTION

The Capacity Building Workshop for Law Enforcement Agencies in Sokoto State on prevention and responses to sexual and gender based violence (SGBV), violence against women and girls (VAWG), harmful practices (HP) and the promotion of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of women and girls was convened by Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) with the support of the European Union-United Nations Spotlight Initiative at Grand New Shukura Hotel, 10 Kano Road, Sokoto, Sokoto State  on August 26^th and 27^th 2020. Participation was drawn from the Nigeria Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Hisbah Commission and the National Agency for the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP).

The workshop is part of a series of activities under the Spotlight Initiative which seeks to eliminate violence against women and girls with the overall vision of a Nigeria where all women and girls, particularly the most vulnerable, live a life free from violence and harmful practices.

The workshop was convened to contribute to an outcome: National and sub-national systems and institutions plan, fund and deliver evidence-based programmes that prevent and respond to violence against women and girls and harmful practices in all sectors. The planned output is that capacities of law enforcement agents and prosecutors is strengthened to deliver services that prevent and respond to VAWG/SGBV/HP, especially for those groups of women and girls facing intersecting and multiple forms of discrimination.

The objectives were designed from the supply side considering that law enforcement is central to the fulfilment of government’s fundamental obligation to society which is to maintain law and order and secure lives and property of citizens and residents. The workshop is to build capacity of strategic law enforcement officials to have a deep appreciation of:

• The purpose and principles of mainstreaming prevention and responses to VAWG/SGBV/HP and women and girls’ access to SRHR in law enforcement;
• National and international standards relevant to law enforcement and VAWG/SGBV/HP/SRHR;
• Challenges of operationalising and mainstreaming preventive and response measures on VAWG/SGBV/HP/SRHR in law enforcement;
• Fit and good practices/best practices in prevention and response to VAWG/SGBV/HP in law enforcement;
• Establish the relationship for continued institutional knowledge support within the project period.

The topics presented were as follows:

(a) The Purpose and Principles of Mainstreaming Prevention and Response to VAWG/SGBV/HP/SRHR in Law Enforcement.

(b) Standards on Law Enforcement and SGBV/VAWG/HP/SRHR. 

(c) Best Practices in Preventing and Responding to SGBV/VAWG/HP.

(d) Challenges of Operationalising and Mainstreaming Prevention and Responses to SGBV/VAWG/HP and SRHR in Law Enforcement.

(e) Gender and Law Enforcement in Nigeria in the Light of SGBV/VAWG/HP/SRHR: Issues, Challenges and the Way Forward.

The participants undertook group discussions which focused on identifying gaps and challenges, emergent best practices as well as low hanging fruits for action in law enforcement for prevention and responses to SGBV/VAWG/HP and promotion of SRHR of women and girls.

 OBSERVATIONS

The Workshop Made the Following Observations

a) Law Enforcement Agencies have a fundamental obligation to protect lives and property and to promote respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms including the rights to human dignity and non-discrimination for women, girls and vulnerable groups. The fulfilment of this obligation should entail freedom from SGBV/VAWG/HP for women and girls and the promotion of their SRHR.

b) There are several legal and policy provisions that protect women and girls from SGBV/VAWG/HP. These include the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), Sokoto State Penal Code, Right to Education Law, Nigeria Police Act and its Regulations, the Compulsory, Free, Universal Basic Education Act and Trafficking in Persons Prohibition Act. Others include all treaties and standards ratified and applicable to Nigeria – United Nations Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials, Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Sustainable Development Goal 5; United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (DEVAW); the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action; Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa; the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), etc.

c) The establishment of the Nigeria Police Gender Unit, the NSCDC Gender Unit, Hisbah Commission Gender Unit, and the Sokoto SGBV Response Team is a welcome development with the capacity to drastically reduce gender-based violence. However, the Gender Units have not been adequately resourced.

d) There is no Standard Operating Procedure for handling sexual and gender-based violence across all Law Enforcement Agencies in Nigeria. Furthermore, there is inter agency rivalry and overlapping functions on SGBV/VAWG/HP.

e) There are several rules in the Police Force that discriminate against women and the Force Gender Policy is overdue for review.

f) Forensic analytical resources/support is imperative for proper investigation and reporting as well as obtaining convictions on SGBV and VAWG.

g) There are challenges of logistics, inadequate training, experts for the investigation of SGBV/VAWG/HP and SRHR of women and girls in the Police, NSCDC, Hisbah Commission, NAPTIP and the SGBV Response Team. Furthermore, there are interferences from political and cultural leaders, superior officers, etc. in the investigation and reporting process.

h) There is no dedicated court for the prosecution of SGBV/VAWG/HP and the denial of the SRHR of women and girls. This slows down the prosecution process and leads to denial of justice for survivors.

i) Awareness and sensitisation on the processes of reporting, facilitation and getting justice on SGBV issues is low. Hence the need for increased public sensitisation.

j) SGBV/VAWG/HP contrary to legal provisions, manifests in various dimensions in the home, in the community, public places and at places of work. These include domestic violence, emotional violence, rape, sexual harassment in schools and workplaces, stalking, female genital mutilation (FGM), femicide, denial of education, disinheritance, widowhood practices, stigmatisation and shaming, etc.

k) Violations of the SRHR of women and girls manifest in forced marriages, child brides, teenage motherhood, forced pregnancies, denial of maternal care including ante natal and safe delivery care, vesico vaginal fistula (VVF), unsafe abortion and denial of use of contraceptives. It also manifests in the undue increase of the Nigerian population – a situation where population growth outstrips economic growth.

l) SGBV/VAWG/HP are recognised obstacles to the achievement of equality, development and peace; nullifies and impairs women’s enjoyment of their human rights and fundamental freedoms; is a global public health challenge and causes physical, psychological and economic harm and suffering to women.

m) The culture of silence, stigmatisation and shaming of women and girls who complain about sexual offences contributes to perpetrator impunity and the continuation of sexual and gender-based violence.

n) Further to paragraph m, overall, law enforcement practices and attitudes have not been overtly supportive of victims and survivors of SGBV and VAWG.

o) The Penal Code Law applicable in Sokoto State recognises that 18 years is the age of majority and informed consent and anyone below the age of 18 is deemed to be a child by law. Sex with any person under the age of 18 is criminalised by the Penal Code.

p) Criminal investigations are pivotal for effective criminal justice adjudication and there is the need for professionalism, objectivity and integrity in the investigation and reporting process.

q) SGBV/VAWG survivors need rehabilitation and reintegration in society.

 RESOLUTIONS

Based On The Foregoing Observations, The Workshop Participants Resolved As Follows:

a) Law Enforcement Agencies commit to redouble their efforts towards eradicating SGBV/VAWG/HP for women and girls and the promotion of their SRHR. Inter-Agency collaboration will be encouraged and strengthened especially a platform for information sharing and exchange.

b) Commit to the development of a Common Law Enforcement Standard Operating Procedure on SGBV/VAWG/HP as well as specific Gender Policies for different Law Enforcement Agencies.

c) Commit to the review of the Police Force Gender Policy to eliminate discrimination against women in the Police especially in the areas of marriage, housing, etc.

d) Commit to the establishment of forensic analytical resources/support funded by the State which is needed for proper investigation and reporting as well as obtaining convictions on SGBV and VAWG.

e) Law Enforcement Agencies commit to provide information for the publication of details of offenders in the Sexual Offenders Register.

f) The Nigeria Police, NSCDC, Hisbah Commission Gender Units should be adequately resourced with financial resources, capacity building for its key personnel and logistics support for its operations. Furthermore, NAPTIP and the SGBV Response Team should also be adequately funded.

g) Commit to advocacy for the establishment of a One Stop Centre responding to SGBV/VAWG and HP with multiple competencies (free toll emergency lines, legal, medical, investigation, psychosocial support, shelter, rehabilitation, etc.) in Sokoto State.

h) Commit to advocacy for the establishment of special court to expeditiously try cases of SGBV/VAWG/HP and the denial of the SRHR of women and girls. This could be done not necessarily by legislation but by the Chief Judge of Sokoto State assigning SGBV cases to designated courts and reducing the case load of these courts, so that they have more time to focus attention on SGBV cases.

i) Commit to engage other stakeholders in the struggle against SGBV/VAWG/HP and promotion of SRHR. These stakeholders include the legal and medical professions, counsellors, women’s rights groups and associations, civil society organisations, religious and traditional institutions, etc.

j) Commit to take preventive action and adequate response to matters of domestic violence, emotional violence, rape, sexual harassment in schools and workplaces, stalking, female genital mutilation (FGM), femicide, denial of education, disinheritance, widowhood practices, stigmatisation and shaming, etc.

k) Commit to take preventive action and adequate responses to violations of SRHR especially forced and child marriages, forced pregnancies, denial of maternal care including ante natal and safe delivery care.

l) To reverse the culture of silence, stigmatisation and shaming of women and girls who complain about sexual offences through sensitisation and a new culture of survivor centred approach to policing and law enforcement.

m) Commit to the dissemination of information on the evidence, requirements and issues that need to be put together to prove rape and other SGBV.

n) Commit to the full and strict implementation of the Penal Code Law that 18 years is the age of majority and informed consent and anyone below the age of 18 is deemed to be a child by law. Sex with any person under the age of 18 is to be vigorously prosecuted.

o) Commit to improved criminal investigations through deploying impartiality, strict truthfulness, intelligence, respect, courtesy, patience, perseverance and persistence, professionalism, objectivity and integrity in the investigation and reporting process of SGBV/VAWG/HP and promotion of SRHR.

Signed

ASP Monica Enoch, SGBV Desk Officer          Asst. Commandant Omejiaku Christy

Nigeria Police Force                                    Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps

Chukwu Udo Chukwu, Asst. Chief Intelligent Officer                                             

NAPTIP                                                         

Asst. Commandant Alhassan J. Adeiza          Barr. Eze Onyekpere Lead Director

Hisbah Commission                                                            Centre for Social Justice