Sexual Harassment Unit

Prevention of Sexual Corruption

Introduction: 

With funding support from the Ford Foundation, ICPC commenced a project tagged “Prevention of Sexual Corruption.” This is the second component of the support from Ford Foundation, the first being the Prevention of Illicit Financial Flows from Nigeria. 

Objectives:

Activities carried out under this Project are designed to strengthen the prevention mandate of the ICPC with focus on prevention of Sexual Harassment in Tertiary and Secondary Institutions in Nigeria in order to address the issue of sexual gratification and abuse of office and power by officials.

Activities:

The activities referred to above include:

1. Capacity Building for Investigators and Prosecutors on prevention of Abuse of Office and Sexual Harassment in Secondary and Tertiary Institutions. 
2. Public Engagement and Interaction with Civil Society on Sexual Harassment in Secondary and Tertiary Institutions.  

Modalities: 

• ICPC contracted a Consultant and a Research Assistant to identify and examine existing laws, policies, systems and practices on Sexual Harassment with a view towards identifying gaps and submitting proposals for filling these gaps. 
• Capacity- building – In fulfilment of the consultancy between the ICPC and the Consultant, a syllabus was developed to train the Investigators and prosecutors in the Commission quarterly at least thrice this year. This is in fulfilment of the plan to fill any identified skill gaps among the Commission staff. 
• Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the two 3-day trainings done so far held virtually between the 17^th to 19^th of February, 2021 and 5^th to 7^th May, 2021.
• Syllabus – The Consultant developed a syllabus for the training. The topics covered during the training were very relevant to the Investigation and Prosecution of Sexual Harassment cases as well as the Public Enlightenment on Sexual Harassment. 
• Faculty – The Faculty comprised four (4) experienced facilitators from within and outside the ICPC and the consultant.
• Participants – Twenty officers were trained during each training so a total of forty officers have been trained so far from three Departments. 

  a. Legal Services (Prosecutors)

  b. Operations (Investigators)

  c. Public Enlightenment and Education Dept. (P.E.& E. D.)

Priority was given to officers who had previously investigated or prosecuted Sexual Harassment cases. 

• Assessment: The virtual Training was well attended. A few participants experienced challenges with their internet connections but most of them generally had hitch free connections. Participants were given a stipend for purchase of data. The participation during the sessions as well as the feedback forms showed a general understanding of the concepts taught during the training.
• Conclusion: The training revealed that the officers indeed needed such training. 

Model Anti-Sexual Harassment Policy

ICPC Sexual Harassment Policy