The growing epidemic of Rape and Incest in Nigeria.
July 29, 2020 / By Jerry Okwuosa
We woke this morning to the shocking report from the IG of Police that since January 2020, over 700 cases of rape and incest have been reported in Nigeria and over 600 of them have been charged to court. The case of the Uniben student who was raped and battered in a Church in Benin City weeks ago following closely the death of George Floyd from police brutality in the USA appears to be one rape too many, but the truth is that for known reasons, rape and incest cases in Nigeria have been under reported and so have not attracted the attention they deserve.
To curtail both crimes in Nigeria and elsewhere, we wish to scrutinize here two simple truths and other views which unfortunately many radio journalists I listen to are wont to brush aside as insufficient justification for these crimes: 1. Men are video and women are audio; that’s the way God made them and 2. Anything on display is for sale. Yes, we agree totally that nothing can ever justify the crimes of rape and incest — abominations — but the saying is true that heaven helps those who help themselves and we ignore truth at our peril. For people to consistently, positively and enthusiastically encourage immodest (skimpy, revealing, provocative) dressing as the right of girls and women is, in our humble opinion, the devil speaking through them. We are yet to hear cogent reasons why women must dress immodestly? Females cannot continue to dress scantily and provocatively and expect to get away with such misconduct. Immodest dressing is immoral and portrays a lack of proper upbringing or home training. Actually it is claimed that it is those females who feel they do not have what it takes to attract men that are tempted to let it all hang out; displaying their sensitive/private parts to attract men. To dress modestly and become and or remain attractive should be the goal of every female. Mrs. Melania Donald Trump in our opinion is a role model for modesty in dressing and attractiveness any day. Mothers should draw their daughters’ attention to her.
I know of good mothers who instruct their daughters from very tender ages to report to Mommy anytime they are touched inappropriately by any person (male and female) including their brothers, father and uncles. These mothers set good example by never being scantily dressed at home (except of course in their bedroom); and even while moving to and from their bathrooms. In matters of modesty one can never be too cautious because the devil is awake and busy 24/7. Those indecent exposures by girls at home, no matter how casual, incidental or infrequent must be discouraged, completely outlawed and punished for the benefit of the menfolk in the house and the safety and security of women. No less effort must be put into bringing up boys properly to respect the personal/private space of girls especially and other boys too. There should be no pornography etc. (as they lead to the objectification of women) in any manner or form in the home. Separate bedrooms for boys and girls and deliberate knocking on doors before entry etc. should be enforced at home. Spare the rod and spoil the child, so the saying goes but many mothers today are afraid of “offending” their children by strict upbringing. It is most worrying that many mothers have given up on the moral life of their children to the sad extent that they are no longer worried or bothered about their children (male and female) getting married as virgins but rather about premarital pregnancy and contracting HIV and so the rot continues.
If we continue to encourage and condone immodest dressing and refuse to acknowledge that men are turned on naturally by female anatomy and hope that this epidemic will go away we are kidding ourselves. It is like repeating the same actions and expecting a different result in terms of the epidemic of rape and incest in our dear country. If we want to avoid sin we must avoid the occasion of sin i.e. avoid the place, avoid the stimulant and avoid the person with whom we sin. In this case, the stimulant and person is the female who provocatively exposes her sensitive anatomy. A word is enough for my wise countrymen.
