Fifty Sharia judges from Kaduna and Kano states have been trained on Gender-Based Violence (GBV) as part of efforts to prevent its escalation in Northern Nigeria.
Speaking at a one-day seminar for the Sharia judges in Kaduna, the project coordinator, Ahmad Abdullahi Ahmad, said the seminar was sponsored by development Research and Projects Centre dRPC to enhance the judges’ understanding of Islamic perspective on Gender Based Violence GBV.
Ahmad Abdullahi explained that, the training was also intended to improve their understanding on how Islamic principles can be utilized alongside legal mechanisms to prevent harm to women and girls.
According to him, the Fifty Sharia court judges were drawn from Kano and Kaduna participated in the seminar.
“What you are seeing today is the outcome of a peer-to-peer study tour undertaken by Muslim opinion leaders and Imams to Egypt. While in Egypt, they engaged with esteemed Islamic institutions like Al-Azhar and the Grand Mufti. The insights and lessons learned from that experience gave birth to this training.”
He pointed out that, the purpose of the seminar was not to teach the judges but to enhance their understanding on how to improve their knowledge of the legal frameworks regarding GBV.
Also speaking, one of the resource persons, Professor Usman Shuaib of the Islamic Law Department of Bayero University, Kano, revealed that, gender violence is often very difficult to prove in court because, in most cases, the violence occurs in isolated places.
He further stressed that, whenever a case is brought to court, judges find it difficult to rule on the matter because of the absence of witnesses.
According to Professor Shu'aib from a legal perspective, GBV can apply to both males and females.
He therefore advised the Sharia judges to employ other means, such as instilling the fear of God in the suspects, and applying wisdom in handling such cases whenever they are brought before them.
In her remark, Barrister Ai’sha Aliyu Tijjani, one of the women opinion leaders that participated in the study tour to Egypt, said when it comes to prevention of Gender-Based Violence, court is the highest place an aggrieved person can address his issues.
Aisha Aliyu noted that person was expected to get remedy from the Sharia court as it’s prescribed by the teachings of the Holy Prophet, Peace be upon him.
According to her, it is legal for victims of gender based violence to go and seek redress, in the Shari’a Court.
Adding that, seeking redress is their right in the Shari’a Court while the Shari’a Court Judges are those charged with the responsibility of manning of the courts.
“They have the power to punish perpetrators, they have the power to grant remedies to victims and address issues in so many ways, at individual level and at community level"
"So we are expecting the Shari’a Court Judges to play their roles seriously as ordained to them by Almighty Allah"
She stated that, Islam has provided full protection for women against violence and she also told the judges that, women in each and every community in the North suffered from one form of violence or the other.
“Those in the Southern part of Nigeria suffer from their type of violence, women Christians suffer from their type of violence and we also suffer from our type of violence"
"Gender-Based Violence has no respect for culture,no respect for religion and has no respect for geography. All women around the world suffer Gender-Based Violence in one form or the other.
"So we are able to tell them that we are looking at the issues primarily in our Islamic way.Most of the violence women suffer in Nigeria are violence in matrimony.So the judges are expected by the position Almighty Allah bestowed on them, to address the issue.It’s not always that when a woman goes to court, complaining about her marriage or complaining about her husband, that she’s required to bring witness. It cannot be possible.”
” We also told them that they should open their mind and brainstorm. Whenever a woman approaches the court, let them think who is bringing her out of her marital home, not to start thinking that Islam has already protected her.”
Barrister Ai’sha Aliyu Tijjani, while answering a question on how most Gender-Based Violence cases ended up through Alternative Dispute Resolution thus negating the effect of deterrence, said:
” Because they are not properly addressed. The judges don’t see them the way they are supposed to see them.If they always see a woman that they would not accept her claim until she has a witness, then how do you expect a woman when she is treated cruelly, then to come to a stage looking for witnesses?
"When a lot of violence issues in matrimony happen closed doors"
The Director General Kaduna State Bureau for Interfaith, Barrister Tahir Umar Tahir who was also part of the delegation to Egypt, described the experience as enthusiastic because they’ve learned what they were expected to be doing for over 2 decades in Nigeria.
He said they met arrangements, documents and others all geared towards non Gender-Based Violence in Egypt, and lot of laws made to protect women from violence and providing the necessary support to them from all ramifications,which were not in existence in Nigeria and in so many countries in Africa.
He underscored the need for judges to be well equipped with the requisite knowledge, so that Gender-Based Violence would be minimally reduced in Nigeria, especially among the Muslims because the Shari’a Court Judges are the first point of call to women.
He however decried the situation that with pile of cases in the courts ,women would prefer to stay at home to avoid the experience in the court.
Tahir said such kind of training would go a long way in reducing the problem because the judges would be more enlightened and more equipped.
Dr. Taofiq Abubakar Hussaini, Director Centre for Islamic Civilization and Interfaith Dialogue Bayero University Kano, said he was also among the delegates on the study tour to Egypt.
According to him, the contents they got in Egypt really enlightened their knowledge on Gender-Based Violence.
” We discovered that most of the cases on Gender-Based Violence are happening due to either ignorance or mischievous interpretation of the Qur’an and Hadith. Also,part of our culture has also contributed ….Islam has a lot of provisions which protect women and children against any form of Gender-Based Violence,”
