The Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on Tuesday, challenged the youth to speak out and report cases of sexual harassment, particularly in tertiary institutions to relevant authorities.
The Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, threw the challenge in Keffi, Nasarawa State in a message he sent to a sensitisation workshop on sexual harassment in territory institutions.
Owasanoye was represented at the workshop by ICPC’s spokesperson, Mrs Azuka Ogugua.
Owasanoye said the workshop was designed to enlighten students and youths on the contents of a policy on the issue of sexual harassment, and to give them insights on how to fight the menace.
“The commission is trying to get students to step forward and report the cases. We want them to provide the ICPC with details needed to carryout diligent investigations.
“We are expecting a high number of reportage from students after the workshop because when they have been exposed to what we are looking for, we should expect them to respond by writing to us.
“They should call us on our toll free numbers and get across to us as soon as they suspect that they or their friends are being harassed.
“Youths, especially students have been our major stakeholders. Issues that concern them are always prioritised by the commission in all our activities and programmes.
“In 2013, ICPC conducted a system study and a major issue that was flagged for attention was `Sex-for-Grades,’ ‘’ he said.
He explained that “sex-for-grades’’ was found to be rampant in universities and other tertiary institutions and also in secondary schools.
He said also that ICPC’s Sexual Harassment Unit had conducted capacity building for investigators and prosecutors on the prevention of abuse of office and sexual harassment in the country’s institutions.
Owasanoye added that the unit had also conducted public engagement and interaction with civil society on sexual harassment in secondary and tertiary institutions with support from Ford Foundation, a development partner.
In a paper he presented on “Sexual harassment, an offence against the individual/a crime against society, Mr Adenekan Shogunle, Deputy Director, Legal Unit, ICPC, tasked workshop participants to regard the fight as a collective one.
He submitted that youths should not tolerate sexual harassment and stressed that the menace needed to be stopped to ensure the safety of educational institutions for learning.
“What is essentially a social disorder has become normal in many tertiary institutions.
“Absence of effective grievance remedial mechanisms and prevalent culture of silence, social tolerance has left many female students at the mercy of rabid predators.
“In a bid for justice, survivors are taking matters into their own hands; naming perpetrators and sharing experiences on social media,’’ he noted.
Shogunle encouraged workshop participants to make use of platforms provided by the ICPC to report all cases of sexual harassment for effective handling.
In another paper, Mrs Peace Aroch, Assistant Director, Legal Unit, ICPC, said sexual harassment had psychological implications, which had to do with the mental or emotional state of the survivor.
She said people sexually-harassed commonly experienced stress, anxiety, depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Aroch stressed that sexual harassment was still being under-reported in spite of its social media posts.
She noted that sexual harassment was still being under-reported because of issues of trust, security, fear and poor financial standing of survivors.
Aroch called on private and public sectors to establish their workplaces sexual harassment policies, adding that they could make recourse to ICPC’s sexual harassment policy to prepare their own.
Source: News Agency of Nigeria