"Rape is a crime against women and psychological wellbeing"

Rape has always been the utilization of coercion or force on a member of the opposite sex, in order to get sexual satisfaction; it's usually executed without mutual agreement between the partners involved.

Merriam-Webster's dictionary puts it well. It defines rape to be an "unlawful sexual activity and usually sexual intercourse, carried out forcibly or under threat of injury against the will, usually a female or with a person beneath a certain age or incapable of valid consent".

In the recent decades, millions of rape and rape-related cases had been reported across Nigeria. As numerous as these numbers are, it is certain that a good number of cases are still unreported. Women fail to report rape cases because of the fear of stigmatization, victimization, and other risks they tend to face upon reporting such cases. As a result of this, their mouths are shut, and they suffer the psychosocial consequences of being a victim of rape.

Rape is a moral and social decadence that needs to be further prevented, and completely curbed. Governments of concerned countries are advised to ensure that rapists are arrested, detained, and prosecuted. Rapists should not go scot-free. Justice should be administered without fear, favour, or prejudice. Proper legal proceedings should not be exempted.
Government should put up agencies against rape, and other related sexual assault cases. The government should also grant a prosecutor, who is a rape victim, zero-cost legal aid, while the legal battle against rape struggles in the court of law. Punishments should also be made Act of Parliament. This will enable due punishments to be legally bestowed upon rapists.

The media should also anonymously publicize rape cases. The names of victims should be withheld, and other means of identification should be kept away from media publicity.

Rape victims are also to report rape cases to appropriate agencies. This could be the Police, or any other agency put up by the government to handle such cases. Victims are also advised to consult a counsellor, in order to enhance their emotional and psychological wellbeing.

Adolescent girls are strongly advised not to take delight in provocative seduction of the opposite sex. This could bear a foul play in the quest for sexual intercourse.

Adolescent girls are also encouraged to be trained in self-defence. As it is known that girls are mostly vulnerable to attacks from their male counterparts, a grounded training in self-defense will help put resistance against rape, and boost courage to face threats from the male folks.

Consequently, rape crisis will definitely be drastically reduced. Women will be empowered and, men will be lawfully cautioned. Through these, we could attain a rape-free society, or at least, a rape-reduced society.