Stiff penalties await Randy lecturers across the Nation’s tertiary institutions as Senate passed for third read reading, bill proposing 14 year jail term without an option of fine , for any one caught harassing his or her students sexually.
Passage of the bill by the Upper legislative Chamber at the Plenary on Tuesday, was sequel to the consideration of the report of the Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters presented by the Chairman, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele ( APC Ekiti Central).
The bill, christened: 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 was sponsored by Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo -Agege, APC, Delta Central, and co-sponsored by 105 other Senators.
The bill 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.
Earlier in his presentation of the report, Chairman of the Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Senator Bamidele said that the piece of legislation “attracted unprecedented support from not only Distinguished Senators as demonstrated by the 106 Senators that Co-sponsored the bill but an overwhelming number of Nigerians who see the bill as a necessary legislative intervention that will bring sanity and good order to the educator-student relationship in our tertiary institutions.”
According to the lawmaker, “the bill is not targeted at a particular community – the educators and that it does not interfere with the autonomy of the universities – rather, it is intended to reposition and strengthen our tertiary educational institutions to maintain the core values of etiquette and excellence.”
Bamidele who noted that with the passage of the bill, the piece of legislation will bridge the huge gap and give legal backing to any internal rule by educational institutions to check the incidences of sexual harassment, said that contrary to ASUU’s claim that there are extant laws that can sufficiently address sexual harassment in tertiary institutions, the Committee found that there are no such laws.
He said, “This legislation is meant to address incidence of sexual harassment in tertiary institutions only, as there are other laws that address sexual offences in respect of persons under the age of 18 years such as the Child Rights Act 2003.
“By enacting this bill into law, the Nigerian Government would be fulfilling part of its obligations undertaken through the ratification of the United States Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa, and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, amongst others.”
Lawmakers during the clause by clause consideration of the bill, however differed on the retention of clause seven in the bill.
In his remarks, Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, who proposed an amendment to clause 7, however argued that it was unnecessary for the prosecution to prove the intention of the accused person or the condition under which the act of sexual harassment was carried out.
According to him, the commission of sexual harassment was sufficient to try any educator accused of a sexual offence.
Lawmakers such as the Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi (APC – Kebbi North) and Senator Abdullahi Adamu (APC – Nasarawa West), however, argued to the contrary that should the bill make it unnecessary for the prosecutor to prove the intention of any accused person in a sexual harassment trial, same would lower the requisite standards obtainable in criminal proceedings.
On his part, Senator James Manager, PDP, Delta South) suggested that the Senate should go ahead to pass the bill without making it compulsory for prosecutors to prove the intention of the accused person in a sexual harassment case, may expose educators to blackmail.
The lawmakers while voting on clause seven, voted for its retention as contained in the bill and recommended by the Committee.
The clause provides for strict liability which makes it necessary for prosecutors to prove the intention of the accused, as well as the condition under which the act of sexual harassment was carried out.
Meanwhile, the President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan said that the passage of the sexual harassment bill by the Lawmakers will ensure the safety of students of tertiary institutions in the country.
Lawan, who spoke after the passage of the bill , said, “this is a very important and landmark legislation that this Ninth Senate has passed. We have to protect our daughters from predators.
“In the process we could see clearly that we wanted fair means of determining what offence somebody is accused of, so it is a balanced legislation.
“We want our tertiary institutions to be a very safe environment for everyone, and this is a legislation that will ensure that wish.”
