The Kano State Government has declared that any teacher or member of the school staff found guilty of sexually harassing kids will be subject to the full force of the law and has promised to take swift action against them.
This was disclosed in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Abba Yusuf on Student Matters, Ibrahim Sumaila, and issued to newsmen on Wednesday.
According to the statement, the SSA remarked upon a high-level stakeholder meeting organised by the Centre for Awareness on Justice and Accountability on ways to address the alarming prevalence of sexual harassment in educational institutions.
“As an Islamic state, Kano will not fold its arms and watch our daughters suffer abuse and humiliation. Any teacher who dares to violate a student will be flushed out and prosecuted without delay,” he stated.
Sumaila stated that NGOs spearheading sector advocacy and reform have the backing of the state government.
The event, which brought together students and media professionals among others, marks the launch of a six-month project by CAJA aimed at curbing sexual harassment through strategic policymaking at the institutional level.
On his part, CAJA Executive Director, Kabiru Dakata, made it known that the initiative is targeted at developing internal policies in tertiary and secondary schools, stressing that most institutions either have no clear sexual harassment policy or bury such issues in vague student handbooks.
“We worked for three years pushing for a national law on sexual harassment, but it’s a tedious process.
“Now, we are going for the low-hanging fruit—pushing individual institutions to adopt clear, stand-alone policies,” Dakata said.
He bemoaned the fact that many victims endure silent suffering, with some failing or dropping out of school as a result of defying predatory lecturers’ demands.
“Students don’t even know where to report or who to turn to when harassed. That’s a failure of the system,” he added.
Any unwanted sexual behaviour, whether verbal, physical, or psychological, that produces a hostile learning environment is considered sexual harassment, according to Barrister Maryam Ahmad Abubakar, who gave a paper on comprehending sexual harassment in academic contexts.
Citing the significance of moral and religious teachings in decreasing such incidents, she highlighted the necessity to educate staff and students on boundaries.
Among the proposed strategies were enforcing strict penalties, revising admission and employment ages, and integrating moral instruction into general studies curricula.
CAJA, with support from the Nigerian Women’s Trust Fund and other partners, also plans to empower survivors as advocates, conduct advocacy in selected schools, and produce campaign materials to raise awareness.
