CHAPTER
ONE
GENERAL
INTRODUCTION
1.0.0:
Introduction:
The
problems of oppression, exploitation, discrimination and subjugation of women
are neither new phenomena, nor peculiar to Nigeria. They are global problems.
It appears that the majorities of womenfolk suffer one form of discrimination,
exploitation, oppression or the other probably because they are women and are
therefore regarded as members of a “subordinate” class. This research work
examined the question of protection of rights of women under Nigeria’s plural
legal system, from pre-colonial period to the present day, and assessed the
implementation and effectiveness of the legal provisions which protect the
rights of women. It also examined the extent to which women have benefited from
such legal protections.
1.1.0:
Background to the study:
Nigeria is a signatory to most of the
International instruments on Women’s Rights, especially The Convention on
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)1, The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights2 and the Protocol
to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in
Africa3
(hereinafter called African Women’s Protocol). The
country has also gone further to domesticate
some of the provisions of the African Charter in the 1999
1 Adopted
18 Dec. 1979, entered into force 3 Sep. 1981, G.A Res. 34/180, 34 UN GAOR,
supp.(No 46), UN Doc. A/34/46, at 193 (1979), reprinted in 19 ILM 33 (1980).
2 Adopted
27 June 1981, entered into force 21 Oct. 1986, O.A.U. Doc. CAB/LEG/67/3/Rev.5,
reprinted in ILM 58 (1982); 7 HRLJ 403 (1986).
3 Adopted
by the Conference of Heads of State and Government M3aputo-Mozambique 11 July
2003, came into force on 25 November, 2005.
However, despite these
provisions in our laws for the protection of women’s rights, there has not been
commensurate improvement in the protection of the rights of women. There
appears to be a gap between the existence of laws pertaining to the rights of women
and their implementation in practical terms. This work therefore examined the
problem of the gap between legal protections of the rights of women on the one
hand and the reality of discrimination, subjugation and exploitation of women
on the other hand. To this end, several instances of discrimination against
women, which affect the development of the womenfolk, were examined in this
work.
1.2.0: Objectives of
study:
Nigeria is a heterogeneous society. It
consists of multi - religious and multi - ethnic groups. As a result issues
arising from the study cut across the various legal systems that have direct
impact on the rights of women in Nigeria. Consequently the study did a research
in the following areas:
1) An
analysis of some discriminatory practices suffered by women in Nigeria in the
light of the existence of women’s rights as enshrined in the various Nigerian
laws i.e. Statutory, Customary and Islamic laws.
2)
An Examination of the laws protecting the
right of women who are the victims of such discrimination, and the extent of
application of these laws.
3) An
Examination of the status of women under Islamic law with a view to determining
whether the prevailing societal practices conform to the Islamic injunctions.
4)
A determination of legislative and other
measures that are needed to deal with the problems that threaten the protection
of rights of women in Nigeria.
1.3.0: Focus of
study:
Taking into account the plural nature of the Nigerian legal
system, this work examined the protection of the rights of women under the
Common Law, Islamic Law and Customary Law. Although under the Constitution and
other Legislative Instruments to which Nigeria is a party (such as African
Charter on Human and People’s Rights, African Women’s protocol, The Women
Convention (CEDAW), Protocol to Women’s Convention, Universal Declaration of
Human Rights and the Beijing Convention as well as the provisions of Islamic
law), the rules governing rights and empowerment of women are clearly spelt
out, the problem on which this research work focused is: To what extent have
these laws protected the rights of women in practice?
1.4.0: Scope of study:
Generally, rights are categorized under civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights. The civil and political rights
include the rights to self determination, right to life, freedom from torture
and inhuman treatment, freedom from slavery and forced labour, the right to
liberty and security, freedom of movement and choice of residence, right to
fair hearing, right to privacy, and freedom of thought, conscience and
religion. They also include freedom of opinion and expression, the right to
marry and found a family, the right to participate in one’s government directly
or through freely elected representatives, the right to nationality and
equality before the law.
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