| Are there frameworks in place to promote, enforce and monitor non-discrimination on the basis of sex? |
Yes, in Nigeria, frameworks are in place to promote, enforce, and monitor non-discrimination on the basis of sex.
These frameworks consist of legal, policy, and institutional mechanisms. Below is a detailed timeline of legal frameworks available in Nigeria between 2016 and 2024 that address sex-based discrimination |
| If yes, what are the legal framework in place? | 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (asamended):
Section 42 prohibits discrimination on the basis of Sex.
i) Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act ( VAPP), 2015: Although enacted in 2015, its implementation and domestication in various states gained momentum in 2016. lt addresses violence and harmful practices, particularly against women and girls.
ii) Child Rights Act, 2003: Continued application to protect children, especially girls, from harmful practices such as child marriage. |
i) VAPP Act Expansion: More States domesticated the Act, providing a legal framework for addressing gender-based violence (GBV).
ii) CEDAW Compliance: Nigeria reported progress to the United Nations onimplementing the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) |
i) Efforts to Amend the Electoral Act: Advocacy for provisions to promote women's participation in governance intensified
ii) Sexual Harassment in Tertiary Institution Prohibition Bill: Introduced in the Senate to address sex-based discrimination and exploitation in educational institutions. |
i) Adoption of the Nigerian National Strategy to End Child Marriage (2016-2021): Continued enforcement to reduce child marriage, which disproportionately affects girls
ii) Electoral Reform Advocacy: Efforts to introduce legal provisions mandating gender quotas in political parties and governance |
i) Post COVID-19 Empowerment Training: Emergency measures highlighted the need to address the rise in GBV during lockdowns, through skills acquisition and sensitization programmes to all the six geo-political zones of the Federation
ii) Establishment of the Gender base violence dashboard which served as a vital tool for consolidating data, monitoring, trends, and informing evidence-based |
i) Updated National Gender Policy (Draft): Efforts were initiated to revise the outdated 2006 National Gender Policy, incorporating emerging challenges like digital gender gaps.
ii) Domestication of International Treaties: Advocacy to domesticate the Maputo Protocol and strengthen gender equality laws policies, it enhances accountability, raises awareness, and supports advocacy efforts. Importantly, it also serves to name and shame perpetrator, deterring such crimes and promoting justice |
i) Establishment of Women Resource Centre for women in Governance and decision making aimed to empower women to actively participate in political processes, governance and decision making
ii) VAPP Act Domestication: By this year, over 30 states had domesticated the Act, providing broader legal coverage for GBV survivors |
i) Conducted legal literacy sensitization to stakcholders in pilot States: aimed advocate women's rights and address societalissues accountabilities and collaborations against GBV.
ii) Efforts to Pass the Gender and Equal Opportunities Bill (GEOB): Renewed advocacy for the GEOB, which had faced significant resislance over the years.
iii) Women's Political Representation: Legal frameworks for ensuring increased female representation in the 2023 general elections were pushed by all MDAs including MBNCWD but achieved limited success. |
i) Rehabilitation of the National Gender Databank through a successful registration of the NCWD on the National Data
ii) Protection Commission: Strengthened efforts to collect and analyze gender-disaggregated data for policy and legal frameworks and to ensure applicable data protection rules digital exclusion and promote women's participation in technology sectors.
iii) Digital Gender Equality Framework: Emerging legal efforts to address |
