Beat your partner/spouse, spend three years in prison

The Niger State government has warned that from now on, anyone who beats their spouse to pulp in the state will be sentenced to imprisonment by a competent court and sentenced to sentence of at least three years in prison.

Addressing journalists on Sexual Exploitation and Abuse/Sexual Harassment (SEASH) in Minna, the Director of Planning, Research and Statistics, Niger State Ministry of Women Affairs, Mrs. Mary Yisa, said the state now has strong legal, policy and institutional frameworks. to combat gender-based violence (GBV).

While stressing that such spouses have the choice of a fine of N200,000, Yisa said: “SEASH broadly encompasses physical, sexual, economic, psychological/emotional abuse/violence, including threats and coercion, and harmful practices that occur between individuals either in the workplace, within families or in the community at large.

She explained that these violations also include sexual violence, domestic or intimate partner violence (IPV), human trafficking, forced and/or early marriages and other traditional practices that can cause harm.

As a result, she said: “Niger State has strong legal, policy and institutional frameworks to combat GBV, which include the Violence Against Prohibited Persons Act and the Human Rights Act. children, the penal code, section 34 of the Constitution, the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and other laws specific to the state as a whole, as well as the Child Rights Act.

“Niger State also benefits from a multitude of policies, such as an integrated gender policy integrated into a five-year strategic action plan (SAP), a communication strategy and an MnE framework, the law on Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP), the Standard Operating Procedure on GBV Prevention and Response, among others.

“A person who beats his or her spouse commits an offense and is liable, on conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to a fine not exceeding two hundred thousand naira (200,000 naira) or both,” she said.

Furthermore, Yisa noted that paragraph 2 provides that “a person who attempts to commit the act of violence provided for in paragraph (1) commits an offense and is liable on conviction to imprisonment not exceeding 1 year or a fine not exceeding 1 year”. one hundred thousand naira (N100,000) or both.

“And any person who incites, aids, encourages or advises another person to commit the act of violence provided for in subsection (1) commits an offense and is liable on conviction to a term of imprisonment not exceeding not 1 year or a fine. not exceeding two hundred thousand naira (N200,000) or both.”.

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