EXAMINATION OF THE HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF GENDER BASED VIOLENCE AND THE PREVALENT FORMS OF GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE IN NIGERIA

Gender-based violence has become recognised as a gross human rights violation, but this had not always been the case. It took a period of time for this form of violence to be acknowledged as aggression that needs to be punished and proscribed. The historical evolution of gender-based violence is examined to reveal the significant steps that have been taken over decades, globally, to build a solid foundation to provide legal protection for the vulnerable. Nigeria, being a patriarchal society, had its own struggle in overturning cultural norms and traditions and creating legislation that could punish gender-based violence. Conceptual clarification is provided for the types of gender-based violence that are prevalent in Nigeria. Civil Society organisations and women's rights, over a period of time, agreed on those forms of gender-based violence that were of greatest concern in the country and, after concerted efforts, passed a Bill through the National Assembly known as the Violence against Persons Prohibition Act, 2015. This legislation became a panacea to the established trends of violence, particularly against women, by criminalising actions that had previously been considered tolerable behaviour. The forms of gender-based violence that are prevalent in Nigeria were identified in the Violence against Persons Prohibition Act and defined with such clarity that they can no longer be ignored, overlooked or brushed aside by communities, law enforcement, prosecutors or the judiciary.