Ministry Expresses Worry Over Rape Victims Accepting Cash As Settlement

The Federal Ministry of Justice has expressed worry over the acceptance of cash by family of survivors to settle out of court with perpetrators for cases of rape, lamenting that this stalls the case from prosecution.

Head of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) Response Gender Unit, Federal Ministry of Justice, Yewande Gbola-Awopetu disclosed this on Wednesday at a one-day 'Stakeholders workshop on implementation of Gender Equality and Social Inclusion in the Criminal Justice System', organised by the Administration of the Criminal Justice Monitoring Committee (ACJMC) in Abuja.

Gbola-Awopetu lamented that the non-corporation of survivors' family members deny lawyers the chance to bring to justice the perpetrators of this heinous crime.

"Most times, the families of perpetrator find a way to reach out to the rape victims’ family and settle them with money, like N200,000, sometimes even for less and the next time you reach out to them to set a date you are greeted with the news that they are not in town.

"And some of them leave the jurisdiction to another place due to shame and stigma.

"Most of them are artisan and migrating are somewhat easy for them."

Speaking further, Gbola-Awopetu noted that not having enough designated courts for SGBV is also an issue.

"The absence of a forensic lab also stalls the law from taking its course as the court has to rely on medicals.

"Although we have an arrangement with EFCC, that also is limited as it can only work with objects and not some factors that are present with cases of GBV.

"Even though there are designated courts for GBV when we file our cases, we find out that they go to other courts that are not designated."