X-Raying the Institutional Framework for the Protection of Women in Nigeria: Problems and Prospects (2015) Leah Mark BulusIntroduction
The protection of citizens in every society is subject to extant laws providing for such protection; the availability and functionality of institutions for the enforcement of such laws. Without viable institutions for the enforcement of such laws, their existence is only a mirage for those who depend on them for protection. The deliberate and outright protection of the rights of women in Nigeria is imperative and its significance cannot be overemphasized, this is because the status of women in Nigeria has been a disadvantaged one .This is partly due to socio-cultural and religious perception and worth attached to the female gender. It is no longer news that women have rights [similar to those enjoyed by their male counterpart], to the enjoyment their full human rights in the society, however, it is also not news that as a result of socio-cultural, religious and sometimes legal biases existing against the female gender, such rights are frequently abused and violated; women are on a daily bases denied what is rightly theirs by law ,and are refused the same standards and benefits that are so easily accorded to and enjoyed by their male counterparts, they are frequently relegated to second class status or equated with children in the society . Thus the need for affirmative action towards specifically providing for [by enactment of protective and non-discriminatory laws] and protecting [enforcement and punishment of violators] without which these rights remain only ideals, and if enacted without practical enforcement, then they exist only on paper and are meaningless to the women folks who continue to face discrimination and abusive violation of rights . Unless their rights are protected, women’s attainment of self-respect and self-dignity hangs in the balance and they cannot exert their full potentials for the growth and development of the society.
Various institutions have been established and allowed to operate by and within the scope of the law to promote, enhance, protect, enforce and ensure the enjoyment of rights by women in Nigeria. This work sets out to consider the prospects of these institutions and how they operate in order to provide a defacto protection for women in Nigeria attain the position of equality, liberation and so they can contribute their part in economic as well as social development of the society. The terms right, protection are themes that run through this work, thus a brief conceptual clarification is imperative.