Rape victims should speak out, Says NHRC

On Wednesday, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) urged rape victims to speak out no matter how long the incident had happened. However, it warned about lying against suspects.

Addressing journalists at the NHRC headquarters in Abuja, the Executive Secretary, Tony Ojukwu, said keeping quiet over the incidents would only help to create more abusers. He said,

“The fact that the victim is speaking after a long time does not mean it did not happen.

There is no expiration time for crimes. But what happens is if you report late, it makes it difficult to prove. There may be need for a DNA test on the semen of the suspect, and once the victim takes her bath before reporting, all of these will be lost.

We encourage people to speak out. The fact that you can even speak out is a discouraging factor for suspects of SGBV and rape.

Even if it is 50yrs ago, speak up and give us the evidence you have. People must account for some of these actions.

The sensitisation we are doing now is to make people come out of stigmatisation.

We know that the victim may have a sense of loss of dignity, but we are here to support you.”

Ojukwu also appealed to government and corporate organisations to donate to the Human Rights Fund, NHRC.