Curbing SGBV with the VAPP ACT .

So I got to know recently that our new security man beat his wife. She had come to see my husband (the pastor) because her twins ,5- month -olds  needed medical attention and her husband refused to do anything about it. My husband noticed her swollen face and on inquiry, discovered that the man had beaten her and left her to fend for her three kids. 

After giving the woman money to help her buy drugs and some food for her kids ( which was deducted from the security man's salary), my husband handed her to me to  further look into the case.

It was then, she opened up and said her husband beating her was normal. Neighbours are tired of trying to intervene because it was too frequent.

He left her to fend for the kids on many occasions. She had reported him to the elders in his family, but she was advised to learn how to manage his anger and submit to his authority. The major cause of their fights was finances. He had lost most of his life's savings in a bad business deal and since then he became depressed and so vents his anger on her. The security job was not paying him enough to meet all their needs.

I was careful to not tow the line of victimizing the victim. I made her feel her pain and any emotion she felt was valid. I asked her if she felt safe enough to stay at the house, especially with the fact that she opened up to let us know what was happening.  Abusers thrive in the  silence of their victims and can be triggered when  they  feel exposed. After she assured me she would be fine, we let her go but quickly planned on how to engage the husband.

I armed myself with the Violence Against Persons Prohibition ACT in preparation for the meeting with the husband. The VAPP ACT criminalizes violence against ALL persons , providing corresponding penalties for offences in order to  halt athe high level of impunity of offenders, including domestic violence in all its ramifications. Section 19 of  the  VAPP ACT  addresses Spousal and wife battery. 

So at the meeting with the husband, he  started by painting himself as one who was the victim . He had no choice but to beat his wife as she was not submissive and always provoked him by her insults.  He was shocked when I told him he needed emotional intelligence. I asked him if it was normal that he reacts to every provocation. I told him  there was no virtue in beating his wife. It was his priogative to manage his emotions even in the face of provocation. He was shocked when I told him wife battery was a crime against the state. I told him it was a punishable crime that could fetch him time in the prison and some fine.   I told him the next time he does that, I will personally take it up with the  Police. That caught his attention.

Afterwards, he promised to go and reconcile with his wife. He promised not to beat her again and agreed to come for an Emotional intelligence class.

Like him, many wife beaters do not know that wife battery is a crime and other GBV practices like forced isolation or separation from family, spouse abandonment, stalking, forced financial dependence or economic abuse, genital mutilation etc.

A person found guilty of domestic abuse can be charged to pay N200,000 fine plus three years in prison.

The VAPP ACT is a welcome development in the fight against GBV . To mark the 16 days of activism against GBV in Yobe state, the ministry of Justice and other stake holders gathered to discuss how to curb SGBV.

The acts supercedes any other provision on similar offences in the criminal,penal code and criminal law.

The punishment in The VAPP is more severe and has compensation for survivors.

The problem is that it is not binding except in states where it has been adopted. Even some states that have adopted it are not yet implementing it.  

The VAPP ACT needs to be simplified for the common man on the street to understand. And when implementation takes place, it will serve as deterrent to others.

In our campaigns and sensitization against SGBV , using the VAPP ACT should be very loud. It is a vital tool in curbing SGBV