VP, Osinbajo, advocates support for victims of sexual harrassment

Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, has said the notion that victims or potential victims of sexual harassment are architects of their fate especially by their attitude, dressing, or willingness to be in a compromising place with their violators is wrong and should be resisted in every situation.

The victim according to him must always be seen as the victim and not to be blamed.

The Vice President was speaking as part of his contributions on Wednesday at a webinar on Anti-Sexual Harassment themed “Finding Safe Spaces for Female Students in Nigerian Universities”, organized by the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife.

The event was based on the book authored by notable journalist and former presidential spokesman, Olusegun Adeniyi, titled NAKED ABUSE: SEX FOR GRADES IN AFRICAN UNIVERSITIES.

According to Yemi Osinbajo stricter punishments for rape offenders especially in situations involving lecturers and their female students should be put in place.

Speaking further on ways of resolving issues around sexual harassment in Nigerian universities, Prof. Osinbajo said the search for answers to creating safe spaces for female students in universities must begin from the question of why is it that such an evidently rampant crime is so under-reported?

He added that more needs to be done to ensure that more victims feel confident enough to come forward since the low reportability is due to the fact most victims do not feel confident that they will get redress, or that they will be treated fairly or that they will not be visited with the same fearful consequences that were the subject of the demand in the first place.