The Problems With The Law on Rape in Nigeria By Aloy Ojilere,*

Introduction
The law relating to rape in Nigeria is rarely discussed even though rape occurs very often and is considered as the most dehumanizing act that can be done on a woman or girl.1 The opinion has also been held that "Nigerian female victims of rape are rater punished by the laws that be and stigmatized by society instead of being rendered justice to and protected.2 This paper will examine the laws relating to rape and/or governing rape trials in Nigeria, to wit: the Penal Code and Criminal Code and the Evidence Act, to underscore the meaning, elements, defences and application of the offence of rape in Nigeria and determine their sufficiency and/or insufficiency with regards to victim protection. Accordingly, the paper will access and overhaul the statutory definition of rape, the common law presumption as to the age of a person who may commit the offence, the requirement for corroboration of evidence of a rape victim/survivor and the issue of consent as a defence to rape. The gender insensitive nature of the law on rape in Nigeria which constitutes a discrimination against men (by defining rape as an offence which can only be committed by a male) will also be highlighted. Suggestions will also be made for legislative review or upgrade of the law on rape in Nigeria in line with what obtains in some other jurisdictions.

1.0 Meaning of Rape
Rape is a specific sexual offence and one of the sexual offences known to the Nigerian criminal jurisprudence.3 The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) considers rape as a form of discriminatory violence against women4And Article 1(g) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court recognizes rape as a crime against humanity.

The Black’s Law Dictionary5 describes Rape as “Unlawful sexual intercourse with a female without her consent; The unlawful carnal knowledge of a woman by a man forcibly and against her will; The act of sexual intercourse committed by a man with a woman not his wife and without her consent, committed when the woman’s resistance is overcome by fear, or force, or under prohibitive conditions.”

By section 357 of the Criminal Code, 6 “Any person who has unlawful carnal knowledge of a woman or girl, without her consent or with her consent if the consent is obtained by force or by means of threats or intimidation of any kind, or by fear of harm or by means of false and fraudulent presentation as to the nature of the act or in case of a married woman by impersonating her husband is guilty of an offence which is called Rape”.
And under Section 282 of the Penal Code, 7 A man is said to commit rape who has sexual intercourse with a woman:
i. Against her will ii. without her consent iii. with her consent when her consent has been obtained by putting her in fear of death or of body harm. iv. With her consent when the man knows that he is not her husband and that her consent is given because she believes that he is another man to whom she is believed herself to be lawfully married.
v. with or without her consent, when she is under fourteen years of age or of unsound mind.

The above provisions merely underscore the ingredients of the offence of rape without actually giving a succinct and detailed definition of it. This is unlike the law in section 1(1) of the Sexual Offences Act of England and Wales 2003 which defines rape in clear terms as an offence which is committed when a person intentionally penetrates the vagina, anus or mouth of another person with a part of his body or anything else.
Following the definitions of rape in Nigeria where the Penal Code uses the phrase sexual intercourse and the Criminal Code uses carnal knowledge in describing the offence, it has been plausibly argued that by the phrases used, the penal code creates a limitation because it points to a male or man penetrating the vagina of a woman or girl with his manhood or penis while under the criminal code, it embraces every rape victim, be it male, female or child and with any kind of instrument, be it penis, objects or with an animal.8

2.0 Core Elements/Ingredients of Rape9

The core elements of the offence of rape in Nigeria, and all of which the prosecution is expected to prove beyond reasonable doubt in order to secure a conviction for rape are as follows: 1. Legal capacity of the accused as to his age 2. Penetration, as actus reus 3. Lack of consent by the victim/survivor 4. Marital/Spousal Rape exemption

2.1 Legal Capacity to Commit Rape: .The age/legal capacity of the accused is a very important element in a trial for rape. This is so because the common law creates an irrebuttable presumption of law that a child under the age of seven is doli incapax, which means that he/she is incapable of forming the mens rea required for the commission of any crime (including rape). Another irrebuttable presumption in law is that a boy who is not up to twelve years of age is incapable of having canal knowledge of a woman, and therefore cannot be convicted of the crime of rape. It follows that what the prosecution needs to do in this regard to obtain a conviction for rape is to prove that the accused person is above twelve years of age, and therefore possesses requisite legal capacity.
Also, since by its statutory definition, rape is an offence committed against a woman or a girl, and never a man or a boy, it follows that no woman can be convicted of raping a man or boy, and no man can be convicted of raping another man, no matter the circumstance. It should however be underscored that a person who lacks the capacity to commit rape may however be tried and convicted for aiding, abetting, counseling or procuring the commission of rape. 10

2.2 Penetration: This is about the fundamental element of the offence of rape. It is, in fact, the actus reus of rape, that is, the actual physical sexual intercourse. In the case of Edet Okon Iko v The State, 11 the Supreme Court held inter alia that the essential and most important element of rape is penetration, and that unless and until penetration is proved, the prosecution must fail. It held further, per Iguh, JSC, that the depth of penetration is not material, as even the slightest penetration is enough to constitute the offence.

Also, in Jegede v The State12 Belgore, JSC (as he then was) stated the law as follows: A person does not have to put in the whole of his penis into the girl’s vagina before he is said to have intercourse with the girl; in law, a mere penetration is enough to constitute the offence of rape. This is why even where penetration was proved but not of such a depth as to injure the hymen, it has been held to be sufficient to constitute the crime of rape.
The court therefore said that the fact that a prosecutrix who is allegedly defiled is found to be virgo intacta (i.e. a Virgin) is not inconsistent with partial sexual intercourse and the court will be entitled to find that sexual intercourse has occurred if it is satisfied on that point from all the evidences led and the surrounding circumstances of the case.

One would therefore seek to know the reasoning behind the decision of the courts in Aiki v Idowu13 where the Nigerian Supreme Court held that, in the absence of evidence that rape of a four year old girl was likely to endanger her life; the defendant, who had raped her to death, could not be convicted of murder by virtue of section 326(3) of the criminal code since the mens rea of rape is not to kill or cause death and therefore, ordinarily speaking, a case of murder rather than manslaughter cannot be easily established against the offender.
And in Upahar’s case, the accused persons were charged with rape and abetment of rape respectively. The evidence against them by the victim/survivor was that the 1st Appellant pulled off his shorts, tore her pant, laid her down in the bush and while the 2nd appellant held her legs apart, the 1st appellant lay on her naked, and did everything necessary to unlawfully have carnal knowledge of her. The medical report of examinations carried out on the victim/survivor read thus: “perineal examination revealed normal external genitalia, tender vulva with whitish secretion; the hymen was lax lacerated but there was no active bleeding.”
The court accepted as a fact that the 2nd appellant held the victim’s legs apart while the 1st appellant took out his penis and inserted into her vagina but went ahead to hold that since neither the medical report nor the eye witness could corroborate the actual act of penetration, penetration was therefore incomplete, and consequently reduced the appellants convictions to attempted rape and abetment of attempted rape respectively.

With regards to Aiki v Idowu (supra), it is my candid opinion that the Supreme Court was wrong on the question whether rape of a four year old was likely to endanger her life. No evidence is necessary; the court should have taken judicial notice of that obvious reality. Common sense and a glancing acquaintance with psychobiology would lead to the conclusion that rape of a four year old child by an adult male was definitely life threatening.
And on the Court of Appeal decision in Upahar (supra), I agree entirely with the thinking that the court was actually looking for proof of virginity instead of proof of penetration, more so, when earlier decisions had specifically emphasized that the slightest penetration of the vagina with the penis was sufficient proof whether or not there was evidence of broken or lacerated hymen.14

2.3 Victim/Survivor’s Lack of consent: The mens rea of rape is an intention to have sexual intercourse without the consent of a woman or girl. It follows therefore that the proof of consent or the lack of consent is paramount to the fate of a person standing trial for rape; hence, consent is an exculpating legal defence to a rape charge, and as long as the consent pleaded was obtained voluntarily and genuinely.15

The import of section 357 of the Criminal Code and section 282(1) (a)-(e) is that the mens rea of rape is satisfied where a man obtained the consent of a girl or woman to sexual intercourse by force, threats or intimidation of any kind, or by fear of harm or by means of fraudulent representation as to the nature of the act. Both codes also recorgnize impersonation of the husband of the victim as one of the mens rea of rape.

2.4 Marital/Spousal Rape Exemption: The old English case of Hyde v Hyde 16 Lord Penzance defined marriage as the voluntary union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others. and stated too, that a man cannot be found guilty of raping his wife.
The law supports the idea that marriage is the prescribed avenue for the satisfaction of innate impulse, particularly in man; hence, sexual intercourse within marriage cannot be considered a sexual offence. The combined effect of Section 6 and Section 357 of the Criminal Code is to the effect that a man cannot rape his wife.
Section 6 provides, in part, that: Unlawful carnal knowledge means carnal connection which takes place otherwise between husband and wife.
Section 282(2) of the Penal Code provides that: Sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife if she has attained puberty.
According to A. O. Yusuf,17 “It is assumed that by reason of marriage, both the husband and the wife enters into a mutual matrimonial contract, which includes an advance and irretractable access to their bodies and consent to have sexual intercourse with each other.”

3.0 Resolving the Problematic Areas
The problematic areas of the Nigerian law on rape will now be considered alongside solutions for resolving these problems.

3.1 Form and object of penetration: Under the Criminal Code and Penal Code, rape is narrowly defined as penile-vaginal penetration only, which implies that rape only happens when a man or boy penetrates a woman or girl’s vagina with his penis.
It should be noted that both legislations are silent as to situation in which the rapist uses such objects as sticks or bottle or his fingers to insert into the vagina of his victim, that is did not actually penetrate the victim’s vagina with his penis as to constitute the actus reus of the crime of rape The Acts also do not envisage that the accused person may have inserted his penis in the mouth or anus of his victim.

The fact that the existing criminal legislations do not recognise other forms of penetration in rape cases has limited the circumstances in which rape is said to have been committed. A classic example is when a medical examination shows that penetration has occurred and could possibly be caused by a hard, blunt object. Unfortunately, the doctor may not be able to verify that it is a penile penetration due to an absence of sperm. When such evidence is presented in court, and there is no other evidence of penile penetration, the prosecutor will not be able to prove rape because of the existing narrow definition of rape.

A female cannot be guilty of rape. That is to say that a woman cannot be charged with raping a man (a woman may be charged under SECTION 7 of THE CRIMINAL CODE with aiding or counseling or procuring the commission of rape). The definition of rape in Australia is preferable and should be adopted in Nigeria. The Crimes Act (Amendment Act of 1989 of NEW SOUTH WALES, for instance defines sexual intercourse in SECTION 61 H(I) as follows:
“For the further purpose of SECTIONS 61H- 66F, ‘ sexual intercourse’ means” a i) Sexual connection occasioned by the penetration to any extent of the genital or female person or the anus of any person by; ii) Any object manipulated by another person; except where the penetration is carried out for proper medical purposes; or b) Sexual connection occasioned by the introduction of any part of the penis of a person into the mouth of another person; or
c) Cunnilingus or
d) The continuation of sexual intercourse as defined in PARAGRAPHS (A) (B) or (C).
This definition is not confined to the traditional act of rape (penetration of a female sex organ by a male sex organ). It extends to penetration of the anus or mouth of the victim.18

On this, the author agrees with Prof. U. U. Chukwumaeze19 that the gist of rape is the indignity of penetrating a woman’s vagina- her most private part and her greatest source of pride without her consent; and that the modern trend in criminal jurisprudence is not to lay emphasis on the object of penetration but on penetration itself. Thus, penetrating a woman’s vagina with any object whatsoever should be rape. Also, inserting forcefully the penis into her mouth or anus should also be rape. The object of the law is to protect the dignity of a woman against the least sexual abuse.

3.2 Consent as a defence to rape
The mens rea for rape both in Nigerian and Malaysian criminal jurisprudence is the intention to have sexual intercourse with the woman’s consent or with indifference as to whether she consented or not.
In the Nigeria case of Edet Okon Iko v The State, (Supra) the Supreme Court, noted that consent to sexual intercourse on the part of a female is a complete defense to a charge of rape.; that the most important and essential ingredient of the offence of rape is penetration and that consent of the victim is a complete defense to the offence.
It follows that in Nigeria, if an accused person pleads that he believed the woman was consenting, he does not bear the further burden of establishing the defense of honest and reasonable mistake of fact under section 25 of the criminal code. Rather, it is the prosecution has the burden of proving the actus reus (intercourse without the woman’s consent) and mens rea (intention to have it without the woman’s consent).
This follows the decision in the old English case of D.P.P. v Morgan.20 However, it has been rightly posited21 that in rape, non-consent is usually but erroneously perceived as a situation where a woman or girl is sexually attacked by her mail assailant who, through brute force subdue a hard fighting, fiercely resisting woman or girl to have his way with casualties like torn pants, shredded braziers, torn underskirts or wrappers, bleeding vagina, swollen faces, bruised body, nail or tooth marks and so on. However, in practical situations, rape may occur in a violent of non-violent ways yet without the real consent of the woman or girl, for instance, when armed robbers attack a luxurious bus and at gun point ask all women in the bus to strip and subsequently had rounds of sexual intercourse with them.22
The point must therefore be stressed that when a woman says she did not consent to the sexual intercourse, it will be patently wrong for the court to seek evidence of her non-consent from her body or to disbelieve her simply because she is not bruised, wounded, with slap marks, torn clothes or underwear or had lacerations in her vagina.
It is however plausible that in the criminal jurisprudence of Nigeria, even though consent remains an exculpating defence to a charge of rape, there are yet other forms of consents that cannot avail a person charged with the offence of rape. They include consents procured by violence or threat of violence, consents obtained by fraud, consents obtained by the mentally man’s husband and consents given by the drunk and having sexual intercourse with a sleeping woman.

3.3 Corroboration of Victim/Survivor’s Evidence in rape
By Section 179(5) of the Nigerian Evidence Act: “A person shall not be convicted of the offences mentioned in paragraph B of the subsection 1 of section 51 or 218, 221, 223, or 224 of the Criminal Code upon the uncorroborated testimony of one witness."
Generally, by Law and practice, the evidence of the victim of rape must be corroborated to sustain a conviction for the offence.
However, the judge must make it clear that he has the risk in question in his mind – what is necessary is that the judge’s mind upon the matter should be clearly revealed.

Under the said Evidence Act, there is no requirement that an accused standing trial for rape cannot be convicted on uncorroborated evidence of one witness. However, over the years the common law principles have been that evidence of the prosecutrix needs to be corroborated or at best, the court will be wary to convict on such uncorroborated evidence.23

In the case of Simon v. Police24 Adetokunbo Ademola, J (as he then was) succinctly put the position of the law in Nigeria thus: “it is not a rule of law in Nigeria that in sexual offences accused person should not be convicted on the uncorroborated evidence of a prosecutrix, that the court may after paying attention to the warning nevertheless convict if they are satisfied of the truth.25

It is suspect therefore, that where most crimes are concerned the accused can be convicted on the testimony of one individual but as shown above, when the crime is sexual in nature, the evidence of one survivor has been deemed to be insufficient and it needs to be corroborated in some ways. This rule of practice arises out of the unconfirmed belief that women would deliberately lie about being assaulted to explain away premarital intercourse, infidelity, pregnancy or to retaliate against a lover.

Accordingly, the burden on the prosecution to corroborate the testimony of the prosecutrix by independent evidence is heavy and tasking to the extent that even when a prosecutrix testified that the accused inserted his penis into her vagina, it is not enough and there must be corroboration by an independent witness of what the prosecutrix testified before. 26
There is a second reason for the rule for corroboration in sexual cases, namely, because these cases are particularly subject to the danger of deliberate false charge resulting from sexual neurosis, fantasy, jealously spite or simply a girl’s refusal to admit that she consented to an act of which she is now ashamed. Of these various possibilities the most subtle are those connected with mental complexes.

In general the requirement of corroboration in sexual cases follows the same rule as for accomplice evidence of detail. The danger of convicting on the evidence of an accomplice who is trying to minimize his own part in the affair is obvious even to an unintelligent person. In sexual cases on the other hand, the danger is usually not obvious.
Moreover, there is tendency in sexual cases for the proceedings to start with prejudice against the defendants, if the complainant is a girl of tender years whose appearance makes a strong appeal to the sympathy and protective feelings of the court.
In the light of modern psychology the technical rule of corroboration seem but a crude and childish measure, if it be relied upon as an adequate means for determining the credibility of the complaining witness in such charges.27

The point must also be underscored that many countries have recognised that there is little justification for the requirement of corroboration and that it seriously impedes the conviction of sexual offenders and have thus done away with this requirement for sexual crimes e.g. Canada, United Kingdom, New Zealand and India. 28

3.4 The evidence of a child
Section 183(3) of the Nigerian Evidence Act requires too that no person shall be convicted upon the unsworn testimony of a child unless it is corroborated by some other supporting material implicating the accused person.
It is trite that sexual offences fall under the category of offences where corroboration is required either as a matter of law or of practice. For some offences such as defilement, it is specifically provided that the court cannot convict based on the uncorroborated testimony of one witness, while for other offences such as rape, out of practice, the judge is required to caution the jury, or himself where there is no jury, that it is unsafe to convict based on the uncorroborated evidence of one witness.

This double requirement for corroboration under the law for sexual offences against the child makes the task of prosecuting the accused person very onerous and may cause his acquittal. The criminal law in Nigeria seem to have ignored the fact that such sexual offences are usually committed in secret and hidden places away from the public glare thus eliminating even the least possibility or likelihood of any corroborative evidence. Also, the likelihood of having an adult witness(es) to such sexual offences is remote because such crime will most likely not be committed before non-participating adult conspirators. There is therefore an urgent need for legislative review and judicial activism with regards to the criminal jurisprudence of both jurisdictions in this area as was exhibited by the court in Ogunbayo v The State 29 when it held that there is no requirement under the law that the sworn testimony of a child must be corroborated. Desirable as it may be to seek corroboration of the evidence of such a child, if the trial court, after a thorough consideration of the matter, comes to the conclusion that it believes the testimony of the child, it is at liberty to act on it alone in the same way that it would if it had been the sworn testimony of an adult.30

3.5 Non-criminalisation of marital rape
It has been noted that marital or spousal rape does not fall within the definition of rape properly so called going by Section 282(2) of the Nigerian Penal Code which clearly provides that sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife is not rape, if she has attained puberty and Section 6 of the Criminal Code which states that Unlawful carnal knowledge means carnal connection which takes place otherwise between husband and wife.

However, women have suffered various forms of physical, psychological and degrading violence from their spouses simply because they refused to give in to demands for sex.31
It is therefore imperative to amend existing laws on rape to ensure that a woman living separately from her husband under a decree of judicial separation or a decree nisi not made absolute; or who has obtained an injunction restraining her husband from having sexual intercourse with her, shall be deemed not to be his wife for the purposes of this section.
Similarly, a Muslim woman living separately from her husband during the period of ‘iddah’, shall be deemed not to be his wife for the purposes of this section.

The justification for such amendment is to assert that marital rape means any unwanted intercourse or penetration (vaginal, anal or oral) obtained by force, threat of force, or when the wife is unable to consent.

More so, by the removal of the exception, the current protection that is given to men who rape their wives will thereby be removed, and they can be made equally liable to be charged with rape. This will also go a long way in checking the growing menace of domestic violence against women in Nigeria and elsewhere.32
This proposition is based on the premise that sex must be a cooperative act of free will and there is no reason why the same premise should not be applicable to parties who are married to each other, irrespective of a possible argument which may arise, especially among Muslims that criminalising marital rape would be against Islamic principles due to the fact that a Muslim wife is required to submit to her husband’s request for sexual relations.33

4.0 Conclusion
The Nigerian Criminal jurisdiction on rape has so far been x-rayed. The paper has highlighted salient vexed issues on the subject of rape in Nigeria and effort has also been made to proffer solutions to them, particularly with examples from legislations of other jurisdictions. It is therefore hoped that a careful application of these suggestions will go a long way in upping our own criminal jurisprudence on rape and bring it in line with modern legal and legislative best practices and scholarship.
This paper deliberately did not make a serious issue out of the legal capacity to commit rape under the criminal laws of Nigeria. The essence is to avoid an unqualified inquest into the medical, biological or scientific possibilities of whether or not a boy of less than 12 years (say up to 11 years but below 12 years can have sexual intercourse/ canal knowledge of a woman or commit rape.
The sufficiency or insufficiency of the punishment for rape prescribed by our criminal jurisprudence was also left out of discussion. This is to avoid venturing into a purely sociological aspect of the discuss relating to sentencing and treatment of rape offenders. It is therefore expected that these issues deliberately left out in this paper will form subjects of future academic discuss.

END NOTES

*Aloy Ojilere, LL.M, BL. Lecturer, Faculty of Law, Imo State University, Owerri, NIGERIA; Doctoral Researcher, Faculty of Law, University of Malaya, Malaysia aloyojilere@yahoo.com; aloyojilere@siswa.um.edu.my

1. Aydin v Turkey, 23178/94 (1997) ECHR, 75, 25 September 1997
2. Ogba, Onwuchekwa Chidimma, Rape Victims: Re-defining the law governing rape in Nigeria. University of Ado-Ekiti Law Journal 2010 Vol. 4 p.248

3. other sexual offences include indecent assault, defilement, incest, child pornography, offences against public decency and morality, carnal knowledge against the order of nature etc contained in Chapter 20 of the criminal Code Act Cap C38, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 (Applicable in the Southern Nigeria.

4. . Activities for eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls are guided by UN Women’s global strategic plan 2011-2913 Development Results Framework goal 3: To Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls and expand access to services http://www.unwomenpacific.org/pages.cfm/our-programmes/evaw/

5. 6th edition page 1260

6. Cap C38, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 (Applicable in the Southern Nigeria

7. Cap 345, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 1990 (Applicable in Northern Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja

8. See Ogba, Onwuchekwa Chidimma, Rape Victims: Re-defining the law governing rape in Nigeria. University of Ado-Ekiti Law Journal 2010 Vol. 4 op.cit at p.251

9. Rape is a serious offence and the kind of sexual assault with the severest punishment, and under section 357 of the Nigerian Criminal Code a person is guilty of rape if:
i. He is above 12years of age ii. Has unlawful intercourse with a woman or girl iii. He achieves actual penetration iv. There is absence of genuine consent.

10. S.P.F. Harris, Principles of the Criminal law, 13th Ed. Sweet & Maxwell, London 1919, p. 155; see also Ngozika orji, op.cit at 304

11. (2001) 14 NWLR (Pt. 732) 221

12. (2001) 7 SCNJ 135 at 141

13. (2006) All FWLR (Pt. 293) 361 ) and Upahar v The State. ( 2003) 6 NWLR (Pt. 816) 230

14. See Ngozika Orji: Proof of Sexual offences in Nigeria, UNIZIK Law Journal vol. 7 No. 1, 2010, p. 310

15. (See Sunday Jegede v The state(2001) 14 NWLR (Pt. 733, 264; Iko v The State(supra)

16. (1886) LR IPD 130

17. Gender inequality and selective victimization under the Nigerian Law of rape, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria Journal of Private and Comparative Law (JPCL) Vol. 2 & 3, 2007-2009 p.101; Reference has always been made to the words of Sir Andrew Hale in The History of the Pleas of the Crown, vol. 1, p. 629 to the effect that: “…the husband cannot be guilty of rape committed by himself against his lawful wife, for by their mutual matrimonial consent and contract the wife hath given up herself in this kind unto her husband which she cannot retract.”

18. In Australia, the state of South Australia has redefined rape so that it covers introduction of the penile penetration of the vagina as in the case of R v AM**((2010) NZCA 144) also in R v Tauiekil ((2005) 3 NZLR 372 CA ). In Victoria, the insertion of objects into the vagina and anus is also included as in the case of R v Hesell.**( (2009) NZCA 450

19. Chukwumaeze, U.U., Sexual offences and gender consciousness, Nigerian Journal of Legal Studies, Vol. vi, 2005 p. 17

20. (1975) 2 A.E.R. 347. Interestingly, the common law position has undergone radical changes since the English case of DPP v Morgan. Presently, sections 1, 2, 3 of the Sexual Offences Act cap 42, 2003 (England and Wales) provides that to sustain a defence of consent, the onus is on a defendant to show that he reasonably believed that the victim/survivor of the rape actually gave her consent freely. In sections 75-76, the 2003 Act also provides circumstances under which the court can presume that the victim did not consent to the act. Sections 42-46 of the Sexual Offences Act no. 3, 2006 of Kenya also make similar provisions. See also Ngozika Orji: Proof of Sexual offences in Nigeria, UNIZIK Law Journal vol. 7 No. 1, 2010, p. 304-306; Aloy Ojilere & C. O. Akoje, The burden of proof in criminal trials in Nigeria (2011/2012) IJPL, Department of Public Law, Imo state university, Owerri, p. 190 at 191

21. A.O. Yusuf, op.cit. at 100

22. See How we raped 40 Abuja-bound Ladies- Suspected Highway Robbers, Sunday Punch Newapaper, Nigeria, of June 27, 2004 p.47

23. In his book, Proof of Guilt, Glanville Williams noted that “the rule is that the jury must be directed that it is dangerous to convict a person for any sexual offence based on the uncorroborated testimony of one witness.”-See Glanville Williams, Proof of Guilt. The Hamlyn Trust Lectures, Stevens & Sons Ltd, London 1955, p.122

24. ((1951) WRNLR 23

25. Also, in Ukut v. State (1965) 1 NRNLR 306 it was also stated that in sexual offences including rape, the court should be wary to convict an accused without corroboration, but in State v. Ogiondiegion ((1968) 1 NMLR 117) it was stated that the requirement of corroboration of evidence of the prosecutrix is not required but that the Judge must warn himself on the risk of convicting of such evidence alone.

26. See Idris Rabiu v. The State (2005) 7 NWLR (Pt 925) 491 at 512

27. However, a research on rape by the Malaysian NGO, All Women’s Action Society (AWAM) showed that it is very rare for women to report rape because of current prosecution practice, the stigma as a rape survivor and their psychological desire to forget about the crime. Therefore these beliefs are in actual fact, false. See page 26 of the MEMORANDUM ON LAWS RELATED TO RAPE IN MALAYSIA (PROPOSALS FOR AMENDMENTS) Submitted by the Anti–Rape Task Force, Prepared by All Women’s Action Society (AWAM); Women’s Centre for Change, Penang (WCC); Sisters in Islam (SIS); Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO); Protect and Save the Children (P.S. the Children) September 2003.

28. See Memorandum on Amendments to Laws Related to RAPE., op. cit. Page 27

29. (2002) 15 NWLR (Pt 789) 76

30. (2002) 15 NWLR (Pt 789) 76

31. OJILERE, Aloy (2009): “Domestic Violence and the Law in Nigeria.” CWGS - Journal of Gender Studies Vol. 1 No. 4 (June 2009), Centre for Women and Gender Studies, Imo State University, Owerri. Pages 75-87; Ojilere, Aloy & Chukwumaeze U.U.(2010): “CEDAW and Gender-Based Discriminations Against Women in Nigeria.” Nigerian Journal of Food, Drug and Health Law (NJFDHL) Vol.3 No. 1 (2010), Faculty of Law, Kogi State University, Anyigba. Pages 95-105

32. For instance, by the September 2007 amendment to the Penal Code of Malaysia, marital rape has been criminalized. By making it illegal for a man to cause “fear of death or hurt to his wife…to have sexual intercourse.” The New Straits Times reported that a Malaysian man who forced his wife to have sex with him has been sentence by the sessions court in eastern Pahang state to the maximum five years in jail in what appears to be the country’s first successful prosecution under a new law against marital rape. In that case Judge Abdul Hassan Ghani was quoted as saying “we hope this will inspire other wives who suffer in silence to come out and seek justice for themselves.” The 35-year- old accused person was also sentenced to 10 years in jail and three lashes of the whip for forcing his wife to have anal sex. http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/world/malaysian-jailed-for-marital-rape/story-e6frfkui-1225758656169

33. Reports abound of many battered women have said that their husbands demanded sex directly following a beating, regardless of the wife’s wishes or emotional or physical state. When a woman consents to sex out of fear or coercion, it is rape, and the perpetrator should not be allowed to get away with the offence by the mere fact that he is married to the survivor/; see Center for Research on Partner Violence, www.wellesley.edu America