Women, Violence and Christian Eschatological Hope

Violence against women in Nigeria manifests in many forms, including domestic, verbal, and physical abuse, rape and sexual assault, early and forced marriages, incest, female genital cutting, acid baths and outright killing. Even in public and private spaces, women have continued to suffer various forms of discrimination, degradation and deprivation. A 2019 survey by the Nigerian National Bureau of Statistics shows that 30% of Nigerian women aged between 15 and 49 have experienced physical violence, while about 68% have encountered emotional, economic, or sexual abuse. Some of the possible reasons given for this experience by women include drunk state of spouses, financial issues resulting in cases of possible frustration, and the rejection of sexual advances from the partner. While there are several studies on the experience of violence by women, this paper distinguishes itself by studying this experience of women in relation to the resurrection faith, considered by this piece as a Christian eschatological hope. It focused on two major experiences of women: rape and female genital mutilation. While giving importance to seeking legal redress and political commitment to solving these problems, the resurrection faith is not just employed as an eschatological event separate from the present historical event-it is understood as affording liberty in the present to those who believe. For the sake of this paper, the thematic and expository methods of inquiry were adopted.


Introduction
A cursory analysis of the evolution of human history, right from the time when theogonies 1 dominated as the cornerstone of human thinking, through the Ancient, Medieval and Modern Epochs to the Contemporary Era, reveals that women have for a very long time been relegated to the background of secondclass citizens or even insignificance.The experience of women in Nigeria, with all its attendant characteristics of subordination, oppression and marginalization, has attracted the attention of scholars, religious bodies, activists, feminists and development workers.Titi Salaam observes that the conditions of women in Nigeria conveniently compete for the worst in the world among other third world countries 2 .This issue of these experiences of women keeps reoccurring in every academic and informal discussion in Africa.This piece is a contribution to the ongoing academic discourse on the socio-economic and religio-cultural experience of women in Nigeria, with particular interest on violence against the women folk.However, while not suggesting any intention to trek all the allies of this experience, this piece adopts a new pedagogy to tackle the problem by focusing on the resurrection faith as a credible Christian eschatological hope that concerns not just the future but also addresses the present in ways too diverse to mention.This perspective is based on the fact that human beings, in their essence, have an aperture towards the transcendental and that a hope that will be definitive has to be one that takes this fact into consideration.

Women and Violence in Nigeria
Violence against women can be understood as any "physical, sexual and psychological behaviour occurring in the family, community or condoned by the state.This includes wife-battering/beating, sexual abuse of female children, 1 Theogonies refer to the mythologies that dominated Greek thought in 600 BC, through which explanations were drawn for the nature of reality.This system of reflection was overthrown by rational explanations given by the Ionian Philosophers.Joseph Omoregbe, A Simplified History of Western Philosophy: Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, Vol. 1, Lagos: Joja  Educational Research and Publishers, Ltd, 2003, p.3. 2 Titi Salaam, "A Brief Analysis on the Situation of women in Nigeria Today" http://www.socialistnigeria.org/women/1-3-03.htm,March 1, 2003.
dowry related violence, marital rape, female genital mutilation and other traditional practices that are harmful to women.It also includes, sexual harassment at work or within educational institutions, trafficking in women and forced prostitution"3 , which "results in humiliation, open ridicule and torture"4 .
Violence against women and girls is today's most pervasive human rights challenge.
In many cultures in Nigeria, women are treated as inferiors and second-class citizens.This violence varies from 20% in adult relationships and 81% of all married women5 , and until recently, violence in a marriage situation was not treated as a crime against the woman.This is because it is often seen as the prerogative of the man to tame the woman6 .Rose Uchem argues that our African marriage ritual predisposes the man in the marriage relationship towards violence against the female partner by the customary emphasis on the headship of the man over and above the woman7 .The unfortunate thing is that after women are violated by their male counterparts, the men do not get adequate punishment for their crimes from the court.Among the Yoruba of Nigeria where the husband is the most important person followed by the members of his own kin, Tola Pearce observes that the woman is exposed to a great number of possible assailants.This is because the family is patriarchal in nature.Traditionally, it is also an extended family unit, housed in large compounds (agbo ile) where the eldest male was usually the head (baale).The Yoruba also practice polygyny.Within this family unit, a woman is a member of a number of dyads which expose her to more than the husband/wife, or child/mother type of violence seen in the nuclear home.Thus, a co-wife, the child of a co-wife, a resident mother-in-law or sister-in-law are possible assailants besides a husband10 .Added to all these is the indigenous patriarchal code of husband/wife conduct which can also itself trigger violence.
In the opinion of one Yoruba male, Traditionally, a good Yoruba wife should be respectful and obedient to her husband and never quarrel, oppose or argue with him.She should keep his secret and guard his property as her own.She should do many things without being told.She should be prepared to do anything she is asked to do, rapidly and well, even if she must do it in the middle of the night.However, she should be receptive to her husband's sexual advances.In short, please him in every way11 .
Women do not only face violence in their homes, they are constantly harassed outside the home by men in authority for sexual favours.This is worsened by the fact that Government institutions are slow to accept domestic violence as a crime, even with the UN's treatment of domestic violence against women as a crime in 1995.Moreover, regardless of the official codes of conduct, violence is accepted among many Nigerians as a way of making an erring wife listen to reason.

Particular cases of violence against women
Given the broad nature of violence against women in Nigeria, this paper has decided to focus on two major cases of violence against women in Nigeria: rape and female genital mutilation.
a. Rape Section 357 of the Nigerian Criminal Code (only applicable to Southern Nigeria) defines rape as "any person who has unlawful carnal knowledge of a woman or girl, without her consent.If the consent is obtained by force or by means of threat or intimidation of any kind, or by fear of harm, or by means of false and fraudulent representation as to the nature of the act.Or in the case of a married woman, by impersonating her husband, is guilty of an offence, which is called rape".Karl Peschke puts it more simply; rape is "illicit sexual intercourse with a woman against her consent"12 .Rape can be committed with the use of physical or moral force (grave fear, reverential fear, deceit or fraud); likewise, by a sin committed with a woman who has not the use of reason, who is either insane or intoxicated.
Many women are raped by their husbands, but in Nigeria, there is no such thing as your wife like your personal property.Many girls have also been raped by their parents 13 , by relatives and friends 14 , housemaids raped by husbands, wife's relations by husbands, mother-in-laws by their daughter's husbands, and so much of this are hushed up to protect the family name; teachers raping their female students in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions 15 , armed robbers rape many women on the highways and worst of all by security agents, in whom the weak should find comfort and protection 16 .Reuben Abati reported in The Guardian Newspaper, how a girl living with her friend was detained overnight by the police, only to be gang-raped by the police men all through the night.Prostitutes who stand by the roadside are constantly arrested by the police and taken to the police station where a punishment of free sex is imposed on them 17 . 13It was reported on the Leadership Newspaper for Sunday, December 7, 2008 (pp.34-35), that on Friday 5 th December, in Auta Belefi in Mararaba, Nasarawa State, one 35-year-old Saidu Waziri was caught by the 29-year-old wife raping their 7year old daughter and the younger sister respectively.The girls were in bed with the man when their mother came in and then rushed for the police.This was not the first time he was caught in such a mess.Neighbours who came around the scene said that the man was caught in the same act last year with the eldest daughter when she was 6 years old.The elder sister was just in primary two while the younger sister had not yet started school for lack of funds.When interrogated by the police, Waziri said that he committed the act due to excessive intake of alcohol, he also blamed the devil and his wife whom he said had been denying him sex for some months now. 14Daily Sun, Thursday, February, 2009, (p.20), reported the case of a 36-year-old man who raped 8-year-old girl to death.Olalekan Abdullahi who is reported to have committed the crime was a friend to the victim's father.Lawal, the father of the raped girl was a away when the suspect visited his house.He actually had the plan of raping the poor girl, and so he sent the younger ones to go and buy bread.He took advantage of their absence and raped the girl.
After the act, the suspect told the victim not to reveal it to anybody, saying she would die if she did.When the complications began to emerge, the little girl could not but reveal the source of her plight. 15The Guardian, Friday, January 30 th , 2009, p.51 16 The Guardian, Friday, January 30 th , 2009, (p.51), reported the case of Queen Okoye who was raped by three police men.When she went to the Area G Police Station in Ogba, Lagos to protest that she was raped by three police men and that she was pregnant.He cries for justice was turned away by the police authorities on the ground that she was a mad woman.What actually happened was that she went to the police station to ask the police to arrest her boyfriend who had taken her N30.000.They asked her to wait until 10p.m, so they could spring a surprise on the man.One thing led to another.She said she was charmed, and when she woke up at 2.30a.m she discovered that she was raped. 17The Guardian, Friday, January 30 th , 2009, p.51.
Rape is a grave offence, because the woman's right over her body is violated.This violation can bring about social dishonour or impede a future marriage 18 .The sound of the word 'rape' sends shivers down the spine of most women.It is the most painful experience a woman can go through.It is bad enough for a person to make away with a woman's valuable goods, and it is very devastating when you encroach on her most valuable, carting away with that which cannot be replaced in a lifetime.How do you even present the terror of rape, that moment of utter cruelty on the victim's psyche?How do you capture the helplessness, fear, emptiness and loss of faith in humanity?And because it is a thing of shame and taboo to be raped in Nigeria, most girls who are victims do not disclose it to anyone, but not without a flashback of the incident19 .
There are many reasons why women refuse to disclose rape.Rape in Nigeria carries a heavy social stigma, sometimes resulting in rejection by family and community members; the police are sometimes unwilling to make official reports; victims also fear reporting cases of rape when the policemen are themselves the perpetrators.Some women are unable to obtain a medical examination and some do not even know how to go about it.
Minors are not left out of this rampage.Suleiman Abba, the Police Chief of Kano State, lamented the escalation of the rape of minors in the state, as is the case in many states in Nigeria.In most cases, he said, the victims are gangraped.The suspects' ages range from 45 to 70 while the victims are mainly girls between 3 and 11 years of age.In many of these cases, he laments, are not reported to save the family from embarrassment but to the detriment of the womenfolk.Abba revealed that in some cases, the rapists are buoyed by a conviction that sleeping with minors, especially virgins, would cure them of diseases such as HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.At times they do perpetrate such atrocities as part of fetish rituals to get rich 20 .It is, therefore, not surprising that some of them use handkerchiefs to wipe the vagina of the children after raping them 21 .Since most rapes are not reported, it is difficult to give an estimate of the problem.However, four years ago, police statistics showed that 4-6 females are raped daily in Lagos.However, 60% of sexual harassment in the area is unreported officially 22 .Subsequent official and newspaper reports indicate that the frequency of rape, especially of minors, has rapidly increased nationwide, particularly in such cities as Lagos, Kano, Enugu and Cross River States.By official estimate, 70% of the cases were not reported 23 .This is very alarming given the age range of those who experience violence. 22The Nation, p.18 23 The Nation, p.18 24 The Nation, p.19 25 ICIR 2023.Lagos records over 5,500 cases of sexual violence in one year -Govt.
https://www.icirnigeria.org/lagos-records-over-5500-cases-of-sexual-violence-in-one-yeargovt.During times of peace, rape is a problem, but it is worse during periods of violence.Reports have also shown that between 1990 and 1998, because of the violence in the Niger Delta, Ogoni women, mainly girls under 18 years have been subjected to serious sexual violence perpetrated mainly by the members of the security forces.At the Oputa Panel hearings, Hadiza, who was 12 years old at the time, described how she was repeatedly raped and held in sexual slavery for 8 days in April 1994.She said the soldiers invaded their house in the night and took her to their station, during which six men repeatedly raped her and beat her continuously until she lost consciousness.When she gained consciousness, she wondered about until she met a fellow victim of rape who took her to a makeshift center in the bush.Hadiza expressed disappointment as the panel's investigations led neither to the prosecution of the perpetrators nor a reparation for the abuse 27 .
Nigerian women are powerless where rape is concerned.Even the section of the criminal code dealing with rape was written by men.It doesn't favour the woman.It further exposes her to humiliation.She is required to prove that she was raped.In the courts there will be the call for medical examination and proof of penetration, and absence of consent.This makes it difficult to prove a case of rape that has lasted for a month or two.How many women will even have the courage to allow such an exposure28 ?It is from this perspective that Amnesty International (AI) released a report titled: "Nigeria: Rape-the Silent Killer".It stated that rape is endemic in Nigeria due to the abject failure of the Nigerian authorities to bring perpetrators to justice29 .According to the Criminal Code Act, anyone who runs foul of the law of rape would be punished with life imprisonment.Going by the Criminal Code, section 359, the penalty for attempting rape is 14 years imprisonment, with or without caning.The Criminal Code Act, section 218 stipulates life imprisonment for anyone who has unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of 13 years.Section 221 of the code states that anyone who has unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl who is above 13 and below 16 years of age will be liable for two years imprisonment, with or without caning.The same penalty is applicable for anyone who has unlawful carnal knowledge of a woman who is defective, say an imbecile.The question people continue to ask is: Are these punishments ever effected?
b. Female Genital Mutilation Female genital mutilation, also known as female circumcision, is another form of violence against women.It is a traditional practice which involves the partial or complete removal of the external female genitalia, sometimes by someone unskilled or a health worker.This may be for cultural or therapeutic reasons.Today some cultures in Nigeria practice female circumcision not for therapeutic reasons but for cultural reasons.The practice dates back to the time of the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt30 .Statistics on countries where it is prevalent shows that it is still a thing of concern in Nigeria.

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There are basically three categories of female genital mutilation; it varies from one country to another, from one ethnic group to another.There are conventionally three types, namely: Type I: Sunna-This involves the excision of the prepuce, without removal of part or the entire clitoris.It is the least severe form of the practice.The prepuce of the clitoris, or the clitoral hood, is removed, preserving the clitoris itself and the posterior larger parts of the minora.Type II: Excision or Reduction-This is a severe form of female genital mutilation.It consists of the removal of the prepuce and the glands of the clitoris together with adjacent parts of the labia minora or the whole of it without including the labia majora and without closure of the vulva.Type III: Infibulation or Pharaonic-This is the most severe form of the practice and consists of excision and infibulation of the vulva.Excision involves the surgical removal of the whole of the clitoris, the labia minora and the adjacent medical part of the labia majora in their anterior two-thirds.The two sides of the vulva are then stitched together.The introitus is obliterated leaving only a small opening to allow urinary and menstrual flow.This stitching together of the vulva after excision is called infibulation.
While male circumcision is generally practiced for hygienic reasons, no convincing reason has been presented for female circumcision.However, the most common reason readily presented, especially by the Urhobo people of Nigeria, to justify female circumcision is that it aids curtailing sexual promiscuity among women32 , by denying the genuine romantic feelings during sexual intercourse.This reason is unfounded.A woman who wants to mess around or sexually will always do so whether circumcised or not.
Another reason adduced to substantiate the practice of female circumcision is that it facilitates fertility in women.For instance, the Eza people in Ebonyi State of Nigeria perform the ritual of circumcision in a barn because of their belief that it is the habit of the god of fertility.So, the mere carrying out of the act in a barn is an assurance of fecundity.In some other customs it is widely believed that unless a woman is circumcised, she cannot have a safe delivery.
In most traditional societies, this act is carried out by traditional practitioners with crude and rusty instruments, which render the victims prone to infections.In this age of HIV/AIDS one can imagine the fate of the victims; most of the time the victims are placed at the risk of permanent deformity.

The Causes of Violence Against Women in Nigeria
The causes of violence against women are many.In many men, violence towards women is a learned behaviour.In the sense that men who abuse women grew up in homes where their mothers or sisters were abused: "Violence against women in the home has particularly serious repercussions.When the woman is a mother and the violence takes place in front of her children, the stage is set for a cycle of violence that may be continued from generation to generation"33 .Psychiatrists hold that cases of psycho-physical disorder could trigger cases of violence 34 .There are also cases when abusive men tend to be jealous, possessive and easily angered 35 .Alcohol in the contention of Rose Uchem is a strong contributory factor in many cases of domestic violence36 .
Rose Uchem gives three types of the effects of violence against women.They are the physical, psychological and spiritual consequences.As regards the physical consequences, she argues that violence on women could lead to permanent physical disabilities or even death.After sexual abuse, some women commit suicide, while many are infected with one STD or the other.The psychological impact involves intense fear that the violence would happen again, low esteem, guilt, depression, hatred, pregnancy wastage or complications in some instances and shame are generated in the woman as a result.This is most times followed by the desire for revenge.Spiritually, the woman feels unappreciated and exploited.This affects the whole of her being and sets in her the fire of spiritual hunger and emptiness 37 .

The Resurrection Faith as a Credible Christian Eschatological Hope
In the past, a retinue of attempts has been made by mankind to change, improve and ameliorate situations of suffering.We have the socio-religious attempts, as in the social teachings of the Church and a great deal of charity offered by religious groups and philanthropists.We have the socio-political revolutions as in Marxism, the Politico-religio approach evident in Political, Liberation, Black and Feminist theologies.Other attempts include the scientific-technological optimism (neo-positivism) and the Philosophic-practical approach evident in pessimism, nihilism, existentialism etc.Generally, they are well intended, but they all result to not being enough.Many of them are sectional and segmental, often at the great expense of others.Moreover, they hope they offer is reduced or limited to the mundane, and this makes it insufficient.However, while not attempting to depreciate the present or the mundane, we need to realize that if human beings, in essence, have an aperture towards the transcendental, then a hope that will be definitive has to be one that takes this fact into consideration.
The hope that the resurrection creates is one that is eschatological, meaning that it points to that which will take place at the eschaton.The futuristic concept forms the basic idea.The future is seen in its absolute sense as the most central issue; it deals with lo ultimo (the ultimate).And the peculiar structure of human existence, gives credence to this futurology, in the sense that the human person is seen as a being that constitutively has a proclivity towards the future38 .This must not be understood as a tactic for over-looking or subduing the vitality of the immediate future that is planable, projectable, predictable and more importantly, the virtually present in the dynamic presence of the actual moment.The author rather focuses on the other type of future that is not planable, not projectable, not foreseeable, not evolutive, of which in the final analysis is the future that counts in terms of responding to hope.This futuristic approach, rather than create an immediate solution or clarify the puzzle of violence against women, often very attractive to those in pain, the futurology of the resurrection faith animates and strengthens the Nigerian woman in her struggle against evil and its attendant effects of pain with the eschatological assurance of what is yet to come.It shows evil as that which, in spite of its weight and thickness, cannot manage to, ultimately triumph over the human person 39 .With the resurrection faith goes the belief that, though the situation of suffering and pain cannot be rationally entirely explained, it can have an eventual solution at the eschaton.As has already been mentioned, our constitutive temporality inserts us into an occurrence that does not end up in emptiness, nor move us only towards possibilities latent in intra-mundane structure of reality but towards a consummation which offers us un plus de ser (Being plus).This dimension of human existence offers the future its fascinating charm and saves mankind from remaining absorbed by nature and remaining in a cyclic course that lacks both beginning and end.
At the eschaton, all the puzzles that defines human suffering would be unraveled, St Paul puts it succinctly, "the last enemy will be conquered" (1 Cor 15:26).It would offer a response to our restlessness, anxiety, fear, wandering and quest for meaning.It would offer healing to both the living and the dead.
As such, offering a universal justice.The researcher believes that any promise of justice to women without reference to the eschatological hope is not just insufficient but a fallacious deceptive promise.No amount of rehabilitation, posthumous apologies or floral wreaths can redress the injustice done to a violated woman, even though all these do make sense and can go a long way.It is only the resurrection that guarantees that there will be justice for all and freedom for all from all forms of alienation.Death levels the destiny of the martyr and the executioner, while at the resurrection, the relationship of each person with God would be laid bare.God's justice would triumph over all the injustices committed against His children.And the kingdom of God would come in its fullness, for the definitive realization of God's plan to bring all things under Christ would be unveiled.In this new universe, God will have his dwelling among us (Rev 21:5).He will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and death, suffering shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away (Rev 21:4).

Conclusion
A cursory glance at the experiences of women reveals that violence against women in Nigeria manifests in various forms, including domestic, verbal, and physical abuse, rape and sexual assault, early and forced marriages, incest, female genital cutting, acid baths and outright killing.Even in public and private spaces, women have continued to suffer various forms of discrimination, degradation and deprivation.Some of the possible reasons given for this experience by women include the drunk state of spouses, financial issues resulting in cases of possible frustration, and the rejection of sexual advances from the partner.This paper has studied the experience of violence by women in Nigeria in relation to the resurrection faith, considered by this piece as a Christian eschatological hope.
The thesis stated and maintained in this article is that the resurrection faith offers hope to the existential experience of women in Nigeria as regards violence.The idea of resurrection faith is not to be understood as an eschatological event that is separable from the historical praxis of liberation.The resurrection faith affords liberty in the present to those who bear it; it brings its content to bear on the concrete and existential life of the present, even though the definitive

Figure 1 :
Figure 1: Top states with highest cases of violence against women

Figure 2 :
Figure 2: Women and experience of violence

From
the statistics given by CLEEN, 2,241 cases of rape and indecent assault were reported in 1999;1,529 in 2000; 2,284 in 2001; 2.084 in 2002; 2,253 in  2003; 1,626 in 2004 and 1,835 in 2005.According to the report of Amnesty International, between 1999 and 2006, more than 13,000 women were raped in Nigeria.According to police and media reports, almost like an invading army, rapists are on the prowl, raping about 100 unsuspecting women weekly in Nigeria 24 .

Figure 3 :
Figure 3: Women and experience of sexual violence

Figure 4 :
Figure 4: Statistics on the Age of Women who experience violence

Figure 5 :
Figure 5: Female Genital Mutilation in Africa