Sexual harassment never justifiable – Osinbajo

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo was quoted in a webinar on Wednesday saying ” There should be no excuse for rape”

According to a statement by his spokesman, Laolu Akande, the Vice-President spoke during a webinar on anti-sexual harassment organised by the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife and titled, ‘Finding safe spaces for female students in Nigerian universities.’

The event was said to have been based on the book, “Naked abuse: Sex for grades in African universities” written by a former presidential spokesman, Mr Olusegun Adeniyi.

The statement quoted Osinbajo as saying, “The victim must always be seen as the victim. There cannot be an excuse, especially given the power configuration between students and lecturers, that the victim could have somehow invited the abuse upon themselves.

“I think it is an important consideration to be made and we must not allow that notion to persist.

“There is also the comparison sometimes made between demanding bribes for service and sex for grades. Sometimes people will argue that a bribe is a bribe and there is no reason why the punishment for sex as the currency of the bribe, should be stricter than an ordinary bribe.”

Osinbajo made a case for a code of conduct based on best practices inappropriate student/lecturer interactions.