Over the years, there had been issues of perpetrators of abuse getting away because the rules are not enforced. Few out of cases of abuse get to trial stage and fewer get conviction. This is attributed largely to the way law enforcement officers handle cases of abuses.
The incontrovertible fact is that without law enforcement agencies, no law can be implemented. But it is unfortunate that most law enforcement officers are still ignorant of what makes abuse and what the law says about such situations based on preconceived norms and cultural orientation.
One may need to ask what the role of the police is in prosecution of assault and abuses. This is because many of them are yet to understand that the issue of abuse is not a family affair. Indeed, most forms of domestic and sexual abuse are criminal offences which need to be reported to the police.
Being assaulted, sexually abused, threatened or harassed by someone you know or live with is just as much a crime as violence from a stranger and is often more dangerous and the police in this case is expected to a 24 hours agency for women experiencing domestic violence or sexual abuse.
The Nigerian police should train its officers on how to handle issues of abuse; most of them need to be sensitised to the fact that abuse should be treated as a serious and criminal matter because it has been identified as such by law and they must as the case demands be willing to intervene, arrest, caution or charge an abuser based on the dictates of the law and not based on their cultural or religious beliefs.
Under the law, they police do not need a warrant to arrest a suspect nor do they need to witness an assault before taking action. The first priority of the police should be the safety of the victim and her children where it applies, they need to protect them from further harm and investigate.
Most Nigerian police officers, when it comes to issues of abuse, drop their responsibility of investigating and turn to mediator. The law gave their major role as investigation but many have dropped their primary role; they need to be given the orientation that the work of a law enforcement officer in issues of abuse is not to mediate, counsel or allocate blame by asking inappropriate questions but to investigate the facts of the matter and charge to court where appropriate.
The police should always give the victim the opportunity of being listened to and spoken to separately away from your abuser; they should not turn abuse cases to a debate between the parties as this means the abuser can further intimidate the victim and cloud the case and they should always allow preferences of the victim if she wants to be seen by a female officer.
The role of the police in such cases is to protecting the victim and her children if she has, remove risk of further violence, usually by arresting and removing the perpetrator or taking victim to a safe house, arrange medical assistance, offer support and reassurance, help with access to other agencies and investigate the situation taking into consideration, the known risk factors associated with domestic violence.
Victims also need to speak out and seek help; they should not be intimidated by threats because arrest can serve as deterrent against repeat offences of violence and reiterate that this behaviour is not acceptable.
For the criminal justice system to be effective in fighting abuse, the police have a huge role to play.
