UPR Sexual Rights Database

National Report:
Para 64) Section 42 of the Constitution guarantees and protects the rights of women from discrimination. Under section 46 (1) of the Constitution, women who are victims of violence and discrimination may apply to a High Court for redress by way of fundamental rights enforcement proceedings in the event of the application of any law that allows violence and discrimination against them. In addition, government enacted the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act.
Para 65) The Act seeks to eliminate violence in private and public life, prohibit all forms of violence including physical, sexual, psychological, domestic, harmful traditional practices, discriminations against persons and to provide maximum protection and effective remedies for victims and punishment of offenders. Under the ACJA, women can now stand as sureties for any applicant or defendant for the purpose of admitting the person to bail. Hitherto this was not possible.

UN Compilation:
Para 8) Referring to the relevant recommendations from the previous review, the United Nations country team stated that Nigeria had given effect to some of its treaty obligations by adopting … the Violence against Persons (Prohibition) Act (2015).
Para 12) CEDAW expressed concern that the prohibition of discrimination in section 42 of the Constitution did not comprise a comprehensive definition of discrimination in line with article 1 of the CEDAW.
Para 46) CEDAW was concerned that, under section 26 (2) (a) of the Constitution, Nigerian women married to foreign men could not transmit their nationality to their husbands, unlike Nigerian men married to foreign women. It was also concerned that section 29 (4) (b) on citizenship renunciation legitimized child marriage, as it recognized any woman who was married to be of full age for the purposes of renunciation of citizenship.
Para 47) CEDAW was concerned that while sections 218 and 357 of the Criminal Code protected girls under 13 years of age from forced sexual intercourse, section 6 excluded the applicability of those provisions to girls of the same age in customary law marriages.
Para 48) [CEDAW] was also concerned that no specific measures had been taken to eradicate polygamous relationships.
Para 49) [CEDAW] remained concerned about discriminatory provisions in the Labour Act (1990), the Factories Act (1987) and the Police Regulations (1968), which prohibited the employment of women in night work and the recruitment of married women to the police and required women police officers to make a written request for permission to marry.
Para 73) [CEDAW] was concerned that women owned less than 7.2 per cent of the total land mass in Nigeria and that their land rights in rural areas were not guaranteed.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 76) JS15 stated that Nigeria had failed to address traditional practices that had hampered gender equality. Discrimination started even before the birth of a girl. Education of boys had been prioritised over that of girls and girls were denied the right to inherit property.
Para 79) JS13 referred to relevant supported recommendations from the previous review and stated that although there had been enactment of progressive laws, harmful gender norms, cultural practices and discriminatory laws had persisted. In several communities, women had been barred from owning immovable property or from renting a house.

National Report:
Para 12) The Nigerian Government has continued to sustain a rights-based approach to economic management that is pro-poor and gender sensitive. This is contained in the economic transformation blueprint tagged Nigeria's Vision 20:2020 ...

Para 13) In specific context, the vision provides, among others, a strategic framework for guaranteeing the well-being and productivity of Nigerians including eradication of extreme poverty ... promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women ...

Para 14) Nigeria is committed to ensuring that respect for all persons irrespective of race, class, disability or gender is guaranteed. Gender equality and women empowerment are basic human rights that form part of Nigeria's Vision 20:2020 and the Transformation Agenda of Government. The strategy adopted in the blueprint for promoting gender equality and women empowerment is by systematic gender mainstreaming in all policies and programmes of government, through the incorporation of the principles laid out in the newly revised National Gender Policy, national laws and other regional and international human rights instruments that support gender equality and women empowerment. There are various gender related bills, currently pending in the National Assembly and government is deploying resources to expedite their passage into law.

Para 70) Government has undertaken several interventions to improve the socio-economic well-being of Nigerian Women, including:
a) The establishment of the Women Fund for Economic Empowerment (WOFEE) which is collaboration between Federal, States and the Bank of Agriculture. The Fund which has a low interest rate, targets grassroots women cooperatives. The initial take- off fund was the sum of N261,000,000.00 ($1,616,009) which was contributed by the Federal Government. The Fund has been distributed to 3, 281 beneficiaries in 28 States of the Federation that have contributed their counterpart funds.

b) The Business Development Fund for Women (BUDFOW) in collaboration between the Federal Government, State Governments and the Bank of Industry targets women entrepreneurs who desire loans to expand their business. The purpose is to provide low-interest credit facilities for women entrepreneurs who are not in a position to enjoy such facilities from the mainstream banks.

c) The Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development in collaboration with the office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) has established Women Political Trust Fund to provide support for female political aspirants.

d) Approval of gender response budgeting in the Ministries of Water Resources, Agriculture, Health, Works and Information Technology with an initial dedicated sum of N3,000,000,000.00 (Three Billion Naira) about ($18,575,851).

e) The Subsidy Reinvestment Programme (SURE-P) targeted at women and youths.

f) The Youth Innovative Enterprise (You WIN Women) solely dedicated to women.

g) The Financial Inclusion Programme by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

h) The Presidential Directive for inclusion of not less than 35% of women in all governments' committees.

i) The admission of women into the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA)and their commission as combatants in the Armed Forces of the Federation.

j) Government has constructed and fully equipped twenty four (24) Skills Acquisition Centres across the Federation to train women and others in various skills.
thereby empowering them to generate jobs, create income and further discourage the high rural-urban drift and improve their quality of life.

k) Establishment of National Framework to execute the U.N Resolution 1325 which is an instrument to mainstream Gender perspective into peace-keeping operations and create a platform for women's equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for maintenance and promotion of peace and security as well as in decision-making with regard to conflict prevention and resolution.

Para 110) ... The NHIS - MDG/MCH project which is currently running in twelve states of the Federation ensures the provision of free health services to pregnant women and children under the age of five. The Community Based Social Health Insurance (CBSHI) which is a form of private health insurance designed for rural dwellers and people in the informal sector was launched in 2011 by Mr. President. Some states in Nigeria have passed laws making it mandatory for all health facilities to report any maternal death when it occurs.

National Report:
Para 24) The executive arm of government has engaged with the Principal Officers of the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly with a view to accelerating the process of passing into law all human rights-based bills.

Para 25) The Government is making efforts to ensure the enactment into law pending human rights related bills before the National Assembly within the tenure of this administration as a demonstration of its commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights in Nigeria.

UN Compilation:
Para 3) In 2012, Nigeria reported in follow-up to the concluding observations of CEDAW, that the Convention was yet to be incorporated into national law, but that there were ongoing consultative efforts to pave the way for such incorporation.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 1) NHRC stated that since its Universal Period Review, Nigeria has acceded to and/or ratified key human rights instruments. However, most of these treaties were yet to be enacted into domestic legislation.

Para 12) HRAN referred to those recommendations in paragraph 103.2 of the Report and stated that a number of human rights bills including the Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill ... remained pending before the National Assembly.

Para 15) DD stated that Nigeria was a party to ... CEDAW but that those instruments were yet to be incorporated into national law.

National Report:
Para 24) Nigeria had enacted the following laws to incorporate the international human rights instruments to which Nigeria is a party: (a) Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2015 (VAPP);
Para 38) Section 34 (1) (a) of the Constitution protects the dignity of human person by stating that every individual is entitled to respect to the dignity of his or her person and accordingly no person shall be subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment. In addition, the following legislative measures aim at combating harmful cultural practices. Legislative measures: (a) Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act 2015;
Para 64) Section 42 of the Constitution guarantees and protects the rights of women from discrimination. Under section 46 (1) of the Constitution, women who are victims of violence and discrimination may apply to a High Court for redress by way of fundamental rights enforcement proceedings in the event of the application of any law that allows violence and discrimination against them. In addition, government enacted the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act.
Para 65) The Act seeks to eliminate violence in private and public life, prohibit all forms of violence including physical, sexual, psychological, domestic, harmful traditional practices, discriminations against persons and to provide maximum protection and effective remedies for victims and punishment of offenders. Under the ACJA, women can now stand as sureties for any applicant or defendant for the purpose of admitting the person to bail. Hitherto this was not possible.

UN Compilation:
Para 8) Referring to the relevant recommendations from the previous review, the United Nations country team stated that Nigeria had given effect to some of its treaty obligations by adopting … the Violence against Persons (Prohibition) Act (2015).
Para 65) The Special Rapporteurs on health, on sale of children and on slavery noted that the Violence against Persons (Prohibition) Act prohibited all forms of violence and criminalized marital rape, female genital mutilation, forceful ejection from home and harmful widowhood practices. The Special Rapporteurs recommended that Nigeria ensure that the Act was adopted in those states that had yet to do so.
Para 67) Referring to the relevant recommendations from the previous review, the United Nations country team stated that the Violence against Persons (Prohibition) Act prohibited female genital mutilation, which had been banned in 12 of the 36 states. The country team considered the implementation of those recommendations to be ongoing.
Para 69) UNFPA stated that the humanitarian emergency in insurgency-affected states in north-east Nigeria had significantly impacted on the lives of women and girls with increased displacement, threats of and exposure to gender-based violence, challenges obtaining and utilizing life-saving services and rising incidence of domestic violence. The Government had established a gender-based violence coordination mechanism to address those issues.
Para 70) The Special Rapporteurs on health, on sale of children and on slavery stated that, while all women and girls who experienced sexual violence during the insurgency faced stigmatization, the stigma and rejection from families and communities was greater for those who were perceived to have been associated with Boko Haram as abductees, those living in Boko Haram controlled areas or those who had been compelled and forced to become “wives” of Boko Haram insurgents. Often referred to by communities as “Boko Haram wives” or “Sambisa women”, they were shunned and marginalized, even in camps for internally displaced persons.
Para 72) [CEDAW] was concerned that section 55 of the Criminal Code permitted wife battery as chastisement as long as no grievous bodily harm was inflicted.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 77) Referring to relevant supported recommendations from the previous review, JS1 stated that in 2015, the laws on gender-based violence had been consolidated into the Violence against Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2015, which broadly covers physical, psychological, economic, and sexual violence, including rape, as well as harmful traditional practices. However, the Act was only in force in the federal capital and that several states did not have specific laws prohibiting sexual and gender based violence. Moreover, Section 55 of the Penal Code, which was in force in the North, specifically allowed husbands to discipline their wives.
Para 78) WRAHP stated that domestic violence and gender-based violence had been on an increase and that the relevant authorities had not given adequate attention to the issue. JS16 stated that domestic violence remained underreported for reasons that included the existence of a culture of silence and the turning away of victims at police stations on the grounds that such a matter was a family affair.
Para 83) CITAD expressed concern by the persistent threats, harassments, intimidations and attacks on women internet users. It expressed alarm by the failure of the government to protect women from gender-based violence on line.