The suspension of Senator Natasha: A return to the dark days of women sexual exploitation and harassment.

“If we were planning to send the clear and chilling message to our young ladies, our children and grandchildren, who face sexual harassment on a regular basis, to shut up, suffer in silence, raise no alarm, suffer humiliation and retaliation quietly, we couldn’t have chosen a better case to make the point than the Natasha-Akpabio Scandal.”   That in the year 2025, a powerful lady, a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Natasha Akpoti-Udanghan, who is also married to a highly influential husband, and who just as she released a bombshell alleging being  sexually harassed by the senate president, was suspended for six months, marks a sad day for women’s right and their bodily autonomy in our country.  To add insult to injury, this national show of shame occurs only hours away from March 8th, the International Women’s Day.  We do not need research statistics to tell us that sexual harassment and sexual exploitation of women in Nigeria is a true epidemic.  We all know it in our daily and past lived experience.  READ ALSO: EFCC questions ex-minister over alleged N138million fraud In a study by Owoaje ET, and Olusola-Taiwo O. titled “Sexual harassment experiences of female graduates of Nigerian tertiary institutions” and published in the 2009-2010 edition of International Quarterly of Community Health Education, the authors reported that majority (69.8%) of the respondents had been sexually harassed, with the main perpetrators being male classmates and lecturers. About two-thirds experienced the non-physical type of sexual harassment; 48.2% experienced the physical type. Non-physical harassment included sexual comments (57.8%) and requests to do something sexual in exchange for academic favors (32.2%). Physical forms of sexual harassment included unwanted sexual touching (29.4%) and being intentionally brushed against in a sexual way (28.9%). The effects experienced by victims were depression and perceived insecurity on campus. Sexual harassment is not just a common occurrence confined to Nigerian tertiary institutions, it is prevalent across the society, in the workplace, houses of worship and in everyday living, including women just walking in the street when men often feel entitled to make sly and sexually demeaning comments and sometimes unwanted physical touching.     Sadly, in our patriarchal male-dominated misogynistic society, victims of sexually harassment who are predominantly women are often shamed, intimidated, disbelieved and revictimized.  That same scenario would seem to be playing out in the high profile allegation of sexual harassment levelled by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan against one of the most powerful men in Nigerian politics, the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio.  Let me state here that I take no side on the guilt or innocence nor on the veracity or falsehood of the allegation by the senator. Just as sexual harassment is extremely damaging to its victim, in the same manner, false accusation of sexual harassment can cause tremendous  and sometimes irreparable reputational and psychological damage to the falsely accused.   READ ALSO: FIOA use will eliminate obstacles and biases against women – stakeholders Until a few days ago when the story broke, I had never heard the name of Senator Akpoti-Udanghan. My position has nothing to do with her public profile nor position.  My position would have remained the same even if she were a pepper seller. The good news about the sad situation is that it enabled her to beam a bright light on the ugly side of our society, our pervasive problem with sexual exploitation and harassment of women to which we have played the ostrich with its head in the sand for a very long time.   “Many on social media have suggested that the lady senator bore a higher burden of proof because ostensibly she had made similar allegations before as if sexual harassment was a one time affair.  Yet, no one has suggested that because Senator Akpabio had been accused before, he automatically should be presumed guilty which would be equally as ridiculous as the position many have taken against Senator Natasha.”   In a case of sexual harassment, neutrality is absolutely essential. Both the accused and the accuser must be afforded the same right and no one should be placing a finger on the scale of justice no matter who is involved. In this case, we are not just talking about a finger on the scale of justice but the full weight and force of the powerful senate is being applied punitively against a fellow senator who has come forward with an allegation against one of the most powerful men in the country.  If we were planning to send the clear and chilling message to our young ladies, our children and grandchildren, who face sexual harassment on a regular basis, to shut up, suffer in silence, raise no alarm, suffer humiliation and retaliation quietly, we couldn’t have chosen a better case to make the point than the Natasha-Akpabio scandal.  Now, the accusing Senator Natasha is facing her night of long knives with her colleagues, women pressure groups, and socio-cultural association coming after her to assault her reputation, including insinuation that she was a woman with loose moral who has had six children from six different husbands! Yet official records shows she only has three children.  Even if it were true that she has six children from six husbands, what business of ours is that?  Does that fact only give anyone a license to sexually harrass her? Her case, not surprisingly, has become a cause célèbre, a soap opera made for TV.  In the process the opportunity that this high profile case presents for us as a society to face our national shame in the epidemic of sexual harassment and exploitation of women is being frittered away.  Sexual harassment is one of the most insidious, most embarrassing situation a woman can face.  Sadly, it often boils down to ‘he says she says’ as only the two involved often know. Our society has so much sexually objectified our women that most victims of sexual harassment are too ashamed to talk. Women often get re-victimized, or blamed for dressing provocatively and hence blamed for their

Too Few Women Breaking Corporate Glass Ceiling – Grant Thornton

  Concerned about what it referred to as the slow pace of the race towards attaining parity in the rate of women versus men in senior management positions, global professional services and accounting company, Grand Thornton has released a report to commemorate the international women’s day titled “Pathways to Parity: 20 Years of Women in Business Insights.” “While the percentage of women in senior management roles globally has increased from 19.4% to 33.5% over two decades, progress remains disappointingly slow with just a 1.1 percentage point increase from last year. At the current rate, parity won’t be achieved until 2053” it lamented in the report that marks two decades of devoted research into the representation of women in senior executive positions around the globe in mid-market businesses. The report delineates three distinct avenues by which businesses can expedite their journey towards gender parity in senior management. These avenues include designating a female senior leader and a C-suite member as the respective recipients of responsibility for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I); executing an independent DE&I strategy with quantifiable objectives; and providing flexible work schedules. Adding voice to the report, Grant and Thornton Managing Partner and CEO in Nigeria, Dr. (Mrs.) Ngozi Ogwo, says “In today’s world, it is essential for women to be an integral part of DE& I (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) leadership teams, as they bring unique perspectives, experiences, and insights that contribute to the creation of a more balanced, empathetic, and effective workplace culture.”  Others who commented on the report were Peter Bodin, CEO of Grant and Thornton International Ltd (GTIL). She says: “Our Women in Business research has been a significant contributor to the global debate on equity in the workplace for 20 years. While we’ve seen some positive change over that time, we also know that sustainable change takes an intentional effort and clear accountability from leadership at every organisation. Through the Grant Thornton International Business Report research and the pathways, we identify, we aim to give mid-market organisations a roadmap to accelerate progress and build more diverse, resilient and successful businesses.” “Mid-market companies have the agility to drive significant change,” says Karitha Ericson, global leader of network capability and culture at Grant Thornton International Limited (GTIL). “By adopting the pathways to parity outlined in our report, achieving 50% representation of women in senior management within the next five years is within reach.” The Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR), the world’s preeminent mid-market business survey, provides information for the Women in Business (WiB) report by conducting biannual interviews with about 5,000 senior executives from listed and privately held companies across the globe. The report, which was first released in 1992 in nine European nations, currently conducts annual polls of almost 10,000 business executives across 28 nations, offering insights into the commercial and economic concerns influencing the growth prospects of organizations worldwide. About 5,000 chief executive officers, managing directors, chairs, and other senior decision-makers from all industrial sectors in mid-market companies across 28 countries were interviewed between October and November 2023, from which the conclusions in this research were derived.