Women in Nigeria face many challenges and discriminatory practices under some extant laws. This presentation focuses on some of these laws and their impacts on women in Nigeria. The Nigerian society is inherently patriarchal. This is due to the influence of the various religions and customs in many parts of Nigeria. Women are seen as the ‘weaker sex’ and discriminatory practices by the state and society (especially by men) are condoned. This paper will highlight aspects of Nigerian laws accentuating discrimination against women and some of these laws include the Labour Act, the Police Act, customary practices and sexual violence laws amongst others. Furthermore, this paper highlights some of the reforms that have impacted positively on the promotion and protection of women rights in Nigeria. These reforms include the appointment of female judges to the Supreme Court , the enactment of laws such as the Protection Against Domestic Violence (Lagos State) 2007 and Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act 2015 amongst others.

Violence against women is the manifestation of historically unequal power relations between women and men which has led to the domination over and the discrimination against women by men. This overtime resulted in the prevention of the full advancement of women in Africa. Even though, the existence of international and regional instruments guaranteeing the full protection of women from violence can be established, the reality is that, too often, violence against women is covered up or tacitly condoned by State actors as seen in the case of Venia Magaya v. Nakayi Shonhiwa Magaya. The various efforts made to eliminate gender based violence for the emancipation of womanhood in Africa and the different policies put in place to breach the gap between the African woman and her male counter-part must be intensified by effective implementation of States solemn obligation to address all forms of harmful practices against women, to bring about women development in Africa. This work identifies objective solutions to ensure accountability on the parts of States government for the purposes of implementing existing laws protecting women in Africa, bringing about a fair environment for the development and attainment of women’s rights to be free from violence in Africa and the positive implementation of States solemn obligation to address all forms of harmful practices against women.

The study examined the impact of domestic abuse on female employees’ productivity among the Nigerian workforce. It is an exploratory study that delved into the various types of gender-based violence, the levels of gender-based violence, the forms and prevalence of domestic abuse, why some employers address the gender-based violence issues and why others do not, and the effect on the victims, employers, co-workers and organizations at large. Not only that the legal effects of domestic abuse: the law, policies and practices on the workforce, and the toll on productivity of the female workforce in Nigeria were the focus of the study. Thus, we concluded that domestic abuse on female workforce in Nigeria is a criminal matter under assault in the Criminal Code in which the victim(s) can bring a civil action under the tort of assault as this affects their productivity and ultimately their overall performance and the organization at large

This is a book edited by Sylvie Namwase & Adrian Jjuuko. It contains 14 chapters written by scholars and activists from across Sub Saharan Africa on the different aspects concerning the legal status of same sex relations in contemporary Africa. In the various contexts, the study explores the role of donors, western evangelists, the international community and the trend of international politics on the progress of sexual minorities’ rights in Africa. It emphasises the significance of protecting sexual minorities’ rights under the African human rights system and the protection of these rights in national jurisdictions. The introduction section gives an overview of the situation of sexual minorities in Africa. The second section covers the regulation of sexual orientation in the precolonial perspective. The third section has country perspectives from Botswana, Cameroon, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe. The fourth part discusses the situation of LGBTI rights in the African system. The book is specifically targeted at students and lecturers of the law in Africa, researchers in the area of rights of sexual minorities, Africa’s political leaders, members of parliament, legal practitioners, medical practitioners, judges, law enforcement officials, the media, church leaders, traditional leaders, civil society organisations and the public at large. It is also hoped that decision makers in institutions within the African human rights system, particularly the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which are key institutions in shaping the cause for rights of sexual minorities in Africa will find the book informative. The foreword is by Prof. Frans Viljoen of the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria. The book covers developments in the period up to the end of 2015. It was published by the Pretoria University Law Press. CHAPTERS PART I: INTRODUCTION 1. Sexual minorities’ rights in Africa: What does it mean to be human; and who gets to decide? Sylvie Namwase, Adrian Jjuuko and Ivy Nyarango PART II: REGULATION OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION IN PRE-COLONIAL AFRICA 2. A triple heritage of sexuality? Regulation of sexual orientation in Africa in historical perspective John Osogo Ambani PART III: COUNTRY CONTEXTS 3. Culture versus homosexuality: Can a right ‘from’culture be claimed in Ugandan courts? Sylvie Namwase 4. Decriminalisation of homosexuality in Kenya: The prospects and challenges Seth Muchuma Wekesa 5. Somewhere over the rainbow: The continued struggle for the realisation of lesbian and gay rights in South Africa Ella Scheepers and Ishtar Lakhani 6. First class Constitution, second class citizen: Exploring the adoption of the third-gender category in South Africa Busisiwe Deyi 7. The suppression of sexual minority rights: A case study of Zimbabwe Esau Mandipa 8. A psycho-legal reflection on issues surrounding the LGBTI community in Mauritius Roopanand Amar Mahadew and Darsheenee Singh Raumnauth 9. The legal status of sexual minorities in Mozambique Emerson Lopes 10. The status of LGBTI rights in Botswana and its implications for social justice Lame Charmaine Olebile 11. Human rights and the criminalisation of same-sex relationships in Nigeria: A critique of the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act 203 Victor Oluwasina Ayeni 12. Protecting same-sex rights in Nigeria: Case note on Teriah Joseph Ebah v Federal Government of Nigeria Azubike Chinwuba Onuora-Oguno 13. The status of sexual minority rights in Cameroon Michel Togue PART IV: THE AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEM 14. The protection and promotion of LGBTI rights in the African regional human rights system: Opportunities and challenges Adrian Jjuuko