EDITORIAL: Ending the sheltered rape culture around Lagos

RAPISTS are one of the worst criminals on the planet, I personally rank them just after murderers and international graft criminals. Rape is nothing short of a sacrilegious violation of a fellow human being but the rate of this crime tells us that the perpetrators of this crime don't see it for what it is. What makes it all worse is how frequent rape occurs in Lagos and how largely under-reported rape cases are. 

The commissioner of police in Lagos, Hakeem Odumosu, reported there was a total number of 91 cases of rape recorded between January and February 2021 in Lagos. These are rape cases handled by the State's police command only, it does not account for cases that were not officially filed by the police or even reported in the first place. 

Now, the last case of rape within the Alimosho area reported in the news was a terrible incident where four 16-year-old boys raped a 15-year-old girl on 33, Alhaji Obe Street in Ejigbo. This happened on February 18th, 2021, but this is obviously not the most recent case of sexual violation as we approach the last month of the year. Other recent news on rape around Lagos include stories such as a 35-year-old raping a 10-year-old child and a man raping a hotel receptionist. 

The reason the Ejigbo gang rape got such a wide report coverage was that the rape was bad enough to be newsworthy. Of course, media firms and newspapers will strongly defend their honour, but the truth remains rape is systematically under-reported, and they are consciously or unconsciously a part of the system. 

There can be no solution to a problem if there is any form of pretence that there is no problem. Rape cases are often not reported because people, in their ignorance, stigmatise victims of rape. Many times, in Lagos and elsewhere, when women are raped, they are asked questions that frame the violence as a fault of their own rather than that of the perpetrator. We seriously need to stop asking callow questions like "Why were you drinking alcohol?" "What were you wearing?" "How can a woman assault you?" "What were you doing in a club?" "You are a man, are you sure you didn’t say yes?" 

Women are portrayed as promiscuous while men are said to be weak or untruthful when they are sexually violated. This makes it hard for victims of rape to come forward, especially men and boys.

Rape victims are expected to endure in silence and live with the traumatic memories of these horrible experiences with criminals with whom they may cross paths again. Most perpetrators will never go to prison. The cases are hardly reported because of the blind stigma attached to the victim and backlash or retaliation from the rapist who is protected by others who are unwilling to report the crime. Incestuous rape is also on the rise, but is never reported because families want to "cover their shame". Instead, we only succeed in covering the crime and protecting the criminal from the just hand of the law. 

A paradigm shift is needed, rape has become a way of life for many and it begins with potential perpetrators and bystanders. Rape is not a women’s issue. It is not a children’s issue. It is not a men’s issue. It’s a societal issue that impacts all of us. The more we shelter the perpetrators of rape, the more the crime grows among us.