Ascertaining the challenges in the enforcement of the abuse of women’s rights in Nigeria

Abstract

The abuse of women’s right entails all forms of discriminations and relegation that women face in spite of being entitled to all categories of human rights. Achieving equality between women and men requires a comprehensive understanding of the ways in which women experience discrimination and are denied equality so as to develop appropriate strategies to eliminate such discrimination. As the saying goes “women’s rights are human rights”, yet almost everywhere around the world women and girls are still denied their rights because of their gender. These abuses which are manifested in physical, economic, psychological and sexual form, is a sensitive issue anchored in inequality of rights in the society. Although Nigeria has legislations combating these abuses, they are often not respected in practice. Moreover, there is also the matter of the extant laws and customs which is often exhibited in cultural and patriarchal antecedent of the Nigerian society. The aim of this paper is to analyze ineptly the different forms of abuse, the underlying factors responsible for women’s rights infringement, the lack of enforcement of the laws protecting women from being the object of abuse and identifying the impediments restricting the enforcement of such rights. The findings of this study revealed the seemingly absence of political will to guarantee protection of these rights, this also presents formidable obstacles to joining the world wide movement towards interdependence and interrelatedness of women’s rights. This paper recommends that the increased representation of women within the police and the judicial system as well as mainstreaming gender within the judiciary can also improve their responsiveness to gender issues and make it easier for women to seek assistance or report their cases.