SHE DESERVES BETTER
The idea that wife by marriage consents in advance to her husband having sexual intercourse with her whatever her state of health or however proper her objection is no longer acceptable. It can never have been other than a fiction, and a fiction is a poor basis for the criminal law.[1]
Some years back , the western world cried horror when a sharia court in Nigeria sentenced a woman to death by stoning for committing adultery, the question is what was the man’s punishment because, it wouldn’t be adultery if she dint do it with a man. It wouldn’t be a new story to say that female prisoners all over the world usually allege and even prove that they were raped by soldiers, the question is why and why is it a constant ocurance? Recently, Egyptian soldiers admitted conducting virginity tests on arrested female protesters in their custody saying that it was to prevent them from alleging rape when released. How is that even a defence? Even if it is a defence, how does that give them the right to molest and subject the women to such inhumane treatment?
In most religions, women are looked down on as the weaker sex, for instance from the Christian account of creation, the woman was created from the man’s rib so that makes her a lesser being to man, some will say and also some men do not believe a woman can preach and will always argue that Apostle Paul in the bible said, women should not speak in church but ask their husbands if they have any questions, so one can say the discrimination against women, dates back to the biblical days. It is not just the Christians, the muslims also make their women cover their faces as they are not to be seen in public, they even go as far as keeping some of them under locked doors called puddah for a while or even for the rest of their lives but seriously, what is their offence?
In some customs, when a woman gives birth to a girl, as far as they are concerned, she is childless until she gives birth to a male child also, till recently, the girl child is denied right to education in some customs and traditions as she is seen as a waste of resources who should go get married and serve a man for the rest of her life. Also under some customs and traditions, a girl does not inherit her father’s properties because she is a girl. The discrimination against woman is in diverse forms worldwide and it has even gone so bad that some women even torture their fellow women and force them into marriages and other indignifying acts, widowhood practices and worse still, some women have actually grown to believe that they are less humans and do not deserve a life outside what the man says. This is so not fair because a woman is a beautiful creature, she is the best specie ever made by the creator, she gives birth to both species, a delight and most importantly a human that deserves equal rights.
Even more annoying is the fate of the female worker that goes into the labour market only to face sexual harassment in different forms, in some cases, she is even offered a job without interview because she is a woman. One would wonder why but may be the Nigerian house of Assembly can help us with an answer because when most women nominees are brought before them, instead of asking them questions, they simply ask her her name or to sing the National anthem and they ask her to take a bow and leave, does that mean that a woman is not an intellect who can defend herself? It is only a few women who had already proven their worth in the outside world like Dora Akunyili, that they ask questions like they ask their male counterparts, It is pathetic and we hope it will not repeat itself in this present dispensation as the women folk is offended by it.
There are many harmful traditional practices against women ranging from female genital mutilation to forced marriages to barbaric widowhood practices, a little girl of less than eighteen years is forced to get married to a man old enough to be her father, she is not even educated so she is not empowered. Many women are beaten up by their husbands simply because they try to stand up to them, many women are practically raped by their husbands from every night because it is their duty, even worse still is where a woman is made to pay her husband money for food because she did not finish cooking on time to serve him. In some customs, women are made to marry their late husband’s brother, some women are made to remain in their husband’s house and give birth to children for a husband who died years back. Some girls are dedicated to the oracles and they serve the oracle for the rest of their lives, they cannot get married or have children because the lot fell on them to become the priestess of their deity and some girls cannot get married to whom they want because they are princesses and have been betrothed to one prince of another kingdom. In some customs, a girl cannot get married to her heartthrob because he is not from her village and it is prohibited for her to get married to a man not from her village. Some women are not allowed to work because she is a tool for child birth and is not allowed to have a career.
The worst form of indignity meted out to women is the widowhood practices in some parts of the world, where a woman who just lost her husband is not allowed to mourn her husband instead, everything she has is ceased, she is accused of killing her husband, her hair is shaved, she is made to wear a black cloth and forced to weep seating on the floor. At times, she is locked in the same room with the corpse and worse still asked to drink the water used to bathe the corpse to prove her innocence. This is outrageous as most of the acts are performed by her fellow women. Customs that allow for such are contrary to public policy, they are repugnant to natural justice, equity and good conscience and therefore unenforceable.
We need to put an end to this madness. Thankfully, there are laws against discrimination of women, harmful traditional practices against women and children and above all the constitution which provides for the right to dignity of the human person. A woman is a human being and deserves to be treated with respect and dignity. Any woman who is being maltreated should either get a lawyer and where she cannot afford a lawyer, she can go to the legal aid council in the state where she is, she can report to FIDA, an association of female lawyers and Non- governmental organizations abound that can help her. She must also make haste to report to the nearest police station if there is no NGO, legal aid or lawyer nearby. She should try as much as possible to preserve every tiny shred of evidence she has.
There should be a further sensitization of women, most women do not know they have rights, talk to a woman today, help stop that discrimination and maltreatment of that woman, she definitely deserves better.
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