WOMEN'S RIGHT AND GENDER EQUALITY LAWS IN NIGERIA
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WOMEN’S RIGHTS AND GENDER EQUALITY LAWS IN NIGERIA Nigeria has made numerous attempts in protecting women's rights by enacting laws, but the persistence of challenges is due to gaps in implementation, cultural norms, and the lapses between federal and state laws. Key legislation and the legal protection for women in Nigeria is discussed below. 1. Key Legislation Protecting Women in Nigeria a. Violence against Persons (Prohibition) Act (VAPP), 2015 The VAPP Act is one of Nigeria’s laws addressing gender-based violence. The Act spoken on rape, criminalizes spousal rape, stipulated life imprisonment for offender, protecting victims of domestic violence, prescribes penalties for offenders, and criminalizes Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and harmful widowhood rites and also identified economic deprivation as a form of abuse. Challenges Faced by VAPP, 2015 The VAPP Act is a federal law that applies only in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT, Abuja). Unless a state ena...