Bill targets sexual harassment

The Nigerian senate has introduced a Bill that aims to prevent the sexual harassment of university students. The proposed legislation follows a BBC investigation that uncovered alleged sexual misconduct by lecturers. As previously reported in Legalbrief Today, the year-long investigation explored the harassment at the University of Lagos and the University of Ghana. It showed lecturers propositioning undercover journalists and offering ‘sex for grades’. Three of the men featured – two in Ghana (Ransford Gyampo and Paul Butakor) and one in Nigeria (Boniface Igbeneghu) – have now been suspended pending investigations. The senate's deputy president said he hoped the probe would help energise support for the Bill. Under the proposed law, academics could face up to 14 years in jail for having sexual relationships with their students. The Anti-Sexual Harassment Bill was originally introduced in 2016, but didn't pass both houses of parliament.