Lagos State Government has warned husbands against forcing their wives into sex, saying such an act could attract life imprisonment under the state’s criminal law.
The warning came from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Lagos State Ministry of Justice, Dr Babajide Martins, during the launch of the state’s Domestic and Sexual Violence Awareness Month.
Martins said marriage does not give a husband the right to force himself sexually on his wife when she has refused consent.
Although Nigerian law does not specifically recognise marital rape, he explained that Lagos State’s Criminal Law provides for sexual assault by penetration, an offence that carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
According to him, a husband who forces his wife to have sex after she has clearly withheld consent can be prosecuted under the provision.
Martins warned men who believe that paying a bride price gives them unlimited rights over their wives to think again.
He urged women facing domestic or sexual abuse to report to the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency for appropriate intervention and legal action.
The DPP also stressed that the law draws a distinction between rape and sexual assault by penetration in cases involving married couples.
He explained that while a husband may not be charged with rape under the existing legal framework where the marriage is intact and consensual, the situation changes when a wife refuses sexual intercourse and the husband uses force.
“A woman’s refusal must be respected, even within marriage,” the DPP’s warning effectively means, as forced sex can expose the husband to prosecution and a possible life sentence.
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