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The Niger State government has vowed jail term for any person that batters his or her spouse.
Extant punishment for the offence is a three-year jail term or a fine not exceeding N200,000 or both.
Director, Planning Research and Statistics in the state’s Ministry of Women Affairs, Mrs. Mary Yisa, who gave the hint in Minna, yesterday, stressed that Niger now has robust legal, policy and institutional frameworks to address Gender Based Violence (GBV).
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The measures, according to her, include the Violence Against Person Prohibited Law and Child Rights Act, penal code, Section 34 of the 19999 Constitution (as amended) and other laws peculiar to the state.
She emphasised that henceforth, any person guilty of battering would be liable to conviction to a term of three years imprisonment.
While disclosing that such spouses have options of N200,000 fine, Yisa said: “The SEASH broadly encompasses physical, sexual, economic, psychological/emotional abuse/violence, including threats and coercion, and harmful practices that occur between individuals either at the place of work, within families and in the community at large.”
She clarified that such violations also include sexual violence, domestic or Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), trafficking, forced and/or early marriage, and other traditional practices that might cause harm.
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