Bride Purchase
Institution of Marriage
Bride Purchase
Bride Purchase
Criminal Code
of Southern Nigeria
The Criminal Code for Southern Nigeria that issues punishments for specific crimes, states that the punishment for a man and a women differ. If a women were to assault a male, their punishment would result in a felony and a prison term of 3 years. If a man were to assault a woman, their punishment would result in a misdemeanor and a prison term of 2 years (Jackson).
The Nigerian government is only reinforcing the idea that patriarchy is to be protected and men are in fact of greater worth women. If a women was to engage the same action as a man, the women would be punished more severely solely on the fact that she is a women. This only reinforces the inferiority of women and legally justifies the superiority of men.
The advantage of this code regarding domestic violence against women is its premise that men and women are of equal value (Okagbue). The logic of the law then states that anyone who intentionally causes the miscarriage of a women, including the women, faces legal consequences (Okagbue).
