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The Senate recently passed a bill, which stipulates up to 14 years imprisonment for sexual harassment offenders and stiffer penalties for institutions that conceal such heinous acts. The bill entitled, “A Bill for an Act to Prevent, Prohibit and Redress Sexual Harassment of Students in Educational Institutions and Related Matters, 2025” seeks to eradicate all forms of sexual exploitation and abuse of authority by lecturers and others in schools.
The bill, which has been passed by the House of Representatives, received huge support from the senators following its presentation to the senate for concurrence. The proposed law stipulates that any educator found guilty of sexually harassing a student will face between five and 14 years in jail without the option of fine. In the same vein, institutions or their heads that fail to act on reported cases of sexual harassment cases will face penalties of up to N5million.
The Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, (APC, Ekiti Central), who presented the bill for concurrence, explained that the bill was designed to protect students from all forms of sexual harassment and abuse within school environments and ensure that offenders were prosecuted.
According to the proposed law, the offences which fall under sexual harassment includes: demanding sex from a student, making unwelcome sexual advances or creating a hostile environment, touching, kissing, hugging, or pinching a student in a sexually suggestive manner, sending sexually explicit pictures or remarks, stalking or making sexually suggestive jokes or comments.
Also, indirect involvement, such as aiding or influencing another person to commit sexual harassment, speaking or acting on behalf of a colleague to commit sexual harassment and punishing a student to coerce her to submit to a colleague, are now punishable by law. In addition, the Bill negates making any defence that a female student consented to the act. Such a defence will not be accepted by law.
The law also mandates female students or their representatives, family members, guardians or lawyers to file a written sexual harassment petition directly with the Nigerian Police Force, the Attorney-General of the Federation, or the institution’s Independent Sexual Harassment Prohibition Committee (ISHPC). The law mandates every higher institution to establish the ISHPC to handle cases of sexual harassment.
Experts define sexual harassment as any unwanted sexual behaviour that makes someone feel upset, scared, offended or humiliated or is meant to make them feel that way. Available statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO) show that one in three women or (840 million women) globally have experienced physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner or sexual violence from a non-partner in their lifetime.
In Nigeria, sexual harassment is a pervasive problem in workplaces and educational institutions. Most of the cases of sexual harassment are unreported due to absence of trust in the reporting systems and lack of diligence in prosecuting such matters. Due to stigma, there is a culture of silence over such matters. However, between August 2024 and July 2025, the Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency (DSVA) in Lagos received 8,692 domestic and sexual violence cases.
It is commendable that the Senate has passed the Sexual Harassment Bill to check the excesses of randy lecturers and other male workers in tertiary institutions. In fact, the Bill is long overdue. The 14-year jail term is enough to deter lecturers from indulging in the illicit act. The law will ensure respect for womanhood. It would be appropriate if the same gesture is extended to other workplaces. Sexual harassment is not only found in tertiary institutions. It also exists in public and private organisations and even among law enforcement agencies.
It is inhuman for lecturers to subject students to sexual harassment. It is a gross abuse of power and exploitation of the weak. The lawmakers should also criminalise sexual harassment in public places, including worship centres. As good as the proposed law is, it does not take into account a situation where a female student falsely accuses a male lecturer of sexual harassment. In some cases, the false accusation is upheld by the institution and the lecturer is punished for an offence he did not commit.
While the Bill awaits presidential assent, the lawmakers should revisit it and make provisions that would punish female students who may falsely accuse lecturers or other university workers of sexual harassment. Nevertheless, the dignity of the female students must be respected. We welcome the proposed law which seeks to punish sexual harassment of female students in all higher institutions of learning in the country. Therefore, the president should sign the bill into law forthwith.
