ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Students Engagement, Sunday Asefon, assured in a meeting with student representatives that President Tinubu would take action on the Sexual Harassment Prohibition Bill currently under consideration.
The student advocates, commemorating the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, presented pens symbolizing their plea for the bill’s assent.
Asefon emphasized the need for collective efforts to combat sexual harassment in tertiary institutions and pledged to deliver the students’ message to the President.
“I receive these pens in good faith and will deliver the message accordingly. I assure you that the President who is our father, would do the needful on this bill.
“We have heard a lot of cases of sexual harassment by lecturers on female students and the female students with boldness reported these cases but because of the lecturers’ influence, the cases are swept under the carpet.
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“This bill will give judgment to criminalise sexual harassment offenders. And I want to assure you that my office will collaborate to renew the fight against sexual harassment and sex-for-marks in our institutions”, Asefon said.
A former Students Union President at the University of Abuja, Benita Olaniyan, urged President Tinubu to prioritise the bill’s signing to address abuse and violence in schools.
“Education system is supposed to be a safe place for learning but students have been harassed and sexually molested.
“Students across higher institutions of learning in this country, in their goodwill, have donated these pens to the President and we believe there will be stricter punishment for offenders,” Olaniyan said.
The Gender Mobile Initiative facilitated the meeting, advocating for stricter punishment for offenders amidst rising cases of harassment.
On 27 November, 2023, the GMI asked Tinubu to sign the Sexual Harassment Prohibition Bill for Tertiary Institutions into law, Punch reports.
Recently, there have been rising cases of sexual harassment of students by lecturers and secondary school teachers in Nigeria.
In August, students of the University of Calabar called out the Dean of the Faculty of Law, Cyril Ndifon, over allegations of sexual harassment.
The allegation led to the suspension of the Dean by the management of the institution.