Amnesty International, AI, yesterday expressed concern over the marginalisation of girls and women in areas affected by conflict in Nigeria.
Its Country Director, Mr Isa Sanusi raised the concern yesterday in Maiduguri while unveiling a 144-page report on female survivours of the Boko Haram conflict in the North-East.
Sanusi said the human rights organisation had already filed a case before the International Court of Justice at The Hague over alleged crime against humanity in the North-East.
“Girls recruited and used by Boko Haram have suffered crimes unique to their gender and age, including forced marriage, restrictions in movement, domestic violence, rape and other forms of sexual violence, forced pregnancy and torture and other forms of ill-treatment.
“These crimes and other abuses must also be understood in the broader context of structural violence against women and girls in Nigeria.
“They are grounded in historical and pervasive gender inequality, discrimination against, and marginalisation of women and girls.
“Despite constitutional provisions providing for gender equality and discrimination, women and girls are treated subordinate to men and boys in practice and laws,” Sanusi said.
He noted that marital rape is not criminalised, while statutory laws grant land rights to women, but customary norms and practices, among other factors prevent women from accessing the rights.
“A 2018 study by Nigeria’s National Population Commission found that almost one in three women between 15 and 49 years old experienced physical violence.
“For married women, this violence is commonly perpetrated by their husbands; for unmarried women, the violence was most often inflicted against them by their mothers or stepmothers,” Sanusi said. (NAN)
