RAPE AND WHY IT ISN'T PUNISHABLE BY DEATH.

      The month of May is gone but it made sure to leave us with events that will make it a month to remember and that's saying something for any month found in 2020.  What makes the departed month of May so peculiar is how it had events that made every opinion count, from the "Black lives matter" protest happening seas away to the several justice for rape victims ones here in Nigeria, The latter event making people to listen to real stories of young girls with the same attention they'd give to a wise old man.

       One of those stories these past week  is of Uwa Omozuwa, the 22-year-old 100 level student of the University of Benin,who was raped and killed right inside a Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) parish on during her study hours and like every other kind of story ever told, it stirs up questions and the prevalent question I seem to notice is the one of  "why aren't rapists sentenced to death" .  

       This post is an attempt to answer that question as factually as possibly under the following points

      •INCENTIVE TO KILL ; Knowing that the fate that awaits them would be death should their victim report them will cause rapists to kill off their victims leading to more cases like that of Uwa Omozuwa. Another thing to understand is that rape is not rational cause if it were, the already existing punishment would be a deterrent to people

      •RELUNTACY TO CONVICT/PROSECUTE ; Rape cases in Nigeria or anywhere are already hard to prosecute due to the 'He said,She said' nature of the crime. Introducing the death penalty will make it harder for judges to adjudge as guilty knowing that a life is at stake when majority of evidence in rape cases are word of mouth.

     • REDUCED REPORTING ; In a large number of rape cases (Over 80%) the accused is known to the victim. Given that scenario – say the accused is an uncle – having the threat of the death penalty looming over the case may make victims less likely to report cases of sexual violence, or even face increased pressure from their families/community to not report it. 

      • PROLONGED TRAUMA ;  Capital punishment cases takes years to prosecute and even when found guilty are open to numerous appeal cases which can span up to a decade which slows the healing process for the victim and their families.

And I'll end this post with a statement from a women's right group that sums it up  “The logic of awarding death penalty to rapists is based on the belief that rape is a fate worse than death. Patriarchal notions of ‘honour’ lead us to believe that rape is the worst thing that can happen to a woman. There is a need to strongly challenge this stereotype of the ‘destroyed’ woman who loses her honour and who has no place in society after she’s been sexually assaulted. We believe that rape is tool of patriarchy, an act of violence, and has nothing to do with morality, character or behaviour.”