GENDER DISCRIMINATION IN THE NIGERIAN LAW OF RAPE: CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVES

This work was motivated by the need for adequate legislation on the subject of rape in Nigeria. It focused on the law of rape—in Nigeria—and how the law of rape discriminates men by not covering instances of male rape. The work analyzed and juxtaposed the contemporary perspective of the law of rape in Nigeria vis a vis other jurisdictions. The article aimed at examining how Nigerian law of rape is gender-specific in nature. The specific objectives are to examine the definition of rape in the Nigerian penal laws, to examine the contemporary position of the law of rape in other jurisdictions and to identify and analyze why the Nigerian law of rape as contained in both the Criminal Code and Penal Code is gender bias. The study adopted the doctrinal approach of legal research as well as the analytical and comparative research types. The main sources of information for this study were the various statutes, textbooks, article, which were critically analyzed and compared as contained in the work. The study found that our penal laws on rape are archaic and do not reflect the current reality of sexual orientation of the contemporary world. The study also found that other jurisdictions have since widened the scope of their law of rape, thereby accommodating the possibility of male rape and other modes of committing rape aside the vaginal penetration. Based on the. above findings, the study recommended that the Nigerian penal laws on rape should be amended to recognize both male and female as assailants and victims of rape respectively, Stiffer penalty should be imports into our laws in order to serve as deterrence, the victims of rape should be adequately compensated and sensitization of citizens against the constrain perspective on rape and the male folk in particular on the need to report cases of rape.