During the passage of the Criminal Code Act (Amendment) Bill, 2020 on Tuesday, July 14, a majority of Nigerian senators rejected an amendment that could have challenged a blind spot regarding marital rape in the Criminal Code Act.
Senator Uche Lilian Ekwunife (Anambra Central – PDP), raised a motion to amend Clause 5 to include explicit prohibition of rape involving a husband and wife. Section 6 of the Principal Act specifically excludes married couples from its definition meaning it cannot be legally recognized in court that a husband raped his wife, or vice versa, even if consent was not provided.
The section reads, “‘unlawful carnal knowledge’ means carnal connection which takes place otherwise than between husband and wife.” Senator Ekwunife urged the Senate to use the opportunity of the bill to recognise that rape can happen between a married couple. “Yes, if you have carnal knowledge of a woman without her consent – a husband shouldn’t rape the wife,” she said.
A male lawmaker who was inaudible in the background seemed to disagree with her, prompting her to respond, “You see? You see the mentality.” Senator Abba Moro (Benue South – PDP) seconded her motion, but a majority of lawmakers in the senate voted against her amendment when Senate President Ahmad Lawan (Yobe North – APC) put it to a voice vote, leaving the clause as originally recommended. The bill will be forwarded to the House of Representatives for concurrence, and then forwarded to President Muhammadu Buhari to sign into law.
Photo Credit: Getty
