- Safiu Kehinde
The Senate has passed the bill prohibiting sexual harassment of students in our educational institutions through third reading.
The bill titled “bill for an Act to prevent, prohibit, and redress sexual harassment of students in our educational institutions” scaled through the third reading during the Senate’s plenary session on Wednesday.
Jibrin Barau, the Deputy Senate President, declared the passage of the bill, which is a concurrent legislation from the House of Representatives, following its reading before the members of the red chamber.
Sponsored by the House of Reps spokesperson, Akin Rotimi (Ekiti North Federal Constituency), the bill aims to protect students from all forms of sexual misconduct and abuse within academic environments, while providing clear legal frameworks for enforcement and punishment of offenders.
Proposed in the bill was a maximum of 14 years imprisonment for offenders convicted of sexual harassment and a penalty of five years imprisonment or a fine of N5 million for heads of institutions who fail to take action on reported cases.
While commending the provision of the bill on Wednesday, several Senate lawmakers called for broader coverage beyond the education sector.
In his submission, Senator Adams Oshiomhole held that the bill should not be limited to students alone but extended to address sexual harassment in workplaces and other settings.
“There is no need to restrict sexual harassment issues to students. We should craft this law in a way that gives it universal application,” Oshiomole said.
Similarly, Senator Anthony Ani called for the extension of the bill across other sectors, stressing that sexual harassment remains a widespread problem across different sectors of society.
“Sexual harassment is everywhere. Limiting this bill to tertiary institutions is a misnomer,” Ani said.