Akinmoyeje Timileyin Precious
Aside the superiority of our reasoning faculty, the human species has gained considerable dominion over others on Earth due to our ability to come together to overcome certain challenges. This ability birthed the historical hunting bands which overtime revolutionized into societies, communities, villages, clans, empires etcetera. In this largely liberal dispensation, this human characteristics is still considered important especially for the sake of universal peace and collective prosperity, hence, the formation of groups such as the European Union, the Economic community of West African States, African Union and the likes. Just as beneficial as this sounds, it may be very catastrophic if inspired by the wrong cause- either by intentional mischievousness or misinformation and misplaced priorities. Currently in Nigeria, the fight against rape and gender inequality is a perfect example of the above. This write-up aims to bring to light some faulty strategies in our approach to combatting our common archenemy- RAPE, and some possible alternatives.
Earlier this year, the rape and murder of Miss Vera Uwa, a hundred level student of the University of Benin- as expected- sparked up many angry reactions on media platforms across the country. Ironically and quite disturbingly, there were reports of more grotesque cases of rape across the federation. These incidences ignited fires of campaigns, hash tags and deliberations. Most importantly, it encouraged previous victims of rape (in every sense of its technicality) to speak up and call for justice. From all sane perspectives, these look like welcome developments and right steps in sending the rape demon into the abyss. Of course they are! We were on the right track, until the train conveying the Calvary (forefront fighters against rape) derailed from the track of justice to that of gender wars and faux moral justifications.
UNDERSTANDING WHAT WE REALLY ARE UP AGAINST
To win a combat, it is only reasonable that there is a level of knowledge on who or what the enemy is. At this point, it would be beneficial to bring clarity to some things- about rape- that have been obscured by shades of ignorance. Technically, rape is bigger than the bush path and blood narrative, it is broader than forcefully subjecting a girl to intercourse because of sexual obsessions. It is more serious than the half-naked and provocative dressing narrative. In the simplest language possible, rape is having sex (oral, penetrative) with an individual without his or her consent.
In other words, the person in question may be your wife, your girlfriend, your husband, your boyfriend, any minor, inasmuch as it is done without the other individual’s consent. It is of utmost importance that we understand that all genders can be raped and that marriage or engagements doesn’t absolve any individual of the crime. This however, only substantiates that the needed effort to get back on the right track and champion this Noble cause is ostensibly overwhelming.
THE VERSUS COMPLEX
One of the explosive effects of group identity gone wrong – as mentioned in the initial paragraph- is the conditioned stereotype of ‘’US vs THEM’’ in the average human being, most especially, in gender related discourses. The struggle against rape took a downturn when individuals used it as a tool and a loud platform to propagate and strengthen their personal misandry and misogynistic biases. This complex has eaten so deep that it has taken over the initial humane struggle against rape and replaced it with illusional ideals of ‘destroying the other gender’ to attain peace. It is important to remember that rape is irrespective of gender. True, males too are raped, true, statistics have shown females to be more common victims of this act. Should we then idealized the complete annihilation of any gender in lieu of annihilating rape? Instead of that, wouldn’t it yield results if all humans learn from our mistakes and work collectively to win?
THE PUBLIC JURY
One of the ideals of the liberal world is the participation of the average citizens in the government, which is the underlying principle of democratic policies. This is arguably the most widely practiced form of government, either directly or indirectly. Obviously, it has yielded results, however, one of the flaws of the Democratic setting is that it undermines the power of human emotions. Human beings are complex organisms who- despite the cornucopia of facts- would rather act based on emotions than logical and empirical evidences. The game of successful democratic politicians is to appeal to the emotions of the majority. Out of mischief, most individuals have capitulated on this human dysfunction to wreak havoc on the life and reputation of others and sadly, we often dance to the tunes of the manipulators without proper verification of the available information. It is even more dangerous because the social media further amplify these lies.
A typical instance is the recent suicide of a Nigerian based in Florida, Izuchukwu; who was accused of rape by another user of the social media and suffered serious emotional, psychological and reputational damages which further lead to his death. Out of the warped reality of belonging to the social media justice league, individuals have believed false claims and compelling anecdotes that have been masked in ambiguity and spiced with pity by manipulators. At the moment, any individual smart enough to pull an emotional stunt is the angel, you know, like the perceived villain and the real villain joke, only that, the matter at hand is a serious one. Such is the venom of the virtual mob. The multiplier effect of this is- aside the damages to the accused- real victims would have to go extra miles to get people to believe them. Does this look like a counterproductive strategy? Should the war not be against rape? If it is, then less attention should be paid to attacking other humans.
TACKLING HUMAN IGNORANCE
The easy accessibility of information in this dispensation has not in any way translated to its consumption. As of now, there are many individuals who are ignorant of the fact that they are and have been sexually assaulted. For the sake of victory, the attention diverted to gender attritions and baseless condemnations should be directed to THE PROPER sensitization of the people, notwithstanding their Calibre or marital status. While the society has created a bias towards letting the females take blame for being victims, the currently informed and famous individuals should utilize their platforms in changing this deleterious mindset.
FOR THE SAKE OF POSTERITY
An average African community, whether educated or not, has a lot to correct on issues touching rape, sexual assault, abuse and gender roles. For a long time, the societal Norm and typical human behavior has created a general disregard towards the issues discussed above. Due to this, an average boy or girl, is ignorant of what he or she is supposed to do in the event of any rape or sexual assault situation. For problems like these not to persist, at least, in staggering percentages, adequate attention should be given to educating the younger generation. Most importantly, NGOs, initiatives, agencies responsible for this, should strive to create a new normal. For instance, the boy-child need not be the enemy his female counterpart has to be protected from, the girl-child need not be taught to live like a victim.
In summary, the right things should be taught to the younger generation without discrimination, that is, without focusing more on a particular gender or subject matter. For the sake of posterity, progress, a better society, the right strategies should be adopted that we may not lose this war!
