STEMMING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
All stakeholders should do more to contain the menace
Lagos State has once again drawn the attention of the nation to a disturbing social problem: the surge in violence against women and children. The State’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Lawal Pedro revealed recently that the state recorded 8,692 cases of domestic and sexual violence in one year – between August 2024 and July 2025. These included 243 cases of defilement, 244 cases of child abuse and physical assault, 99 cases of rape, 48 cases of sexual harassment, and 25 cases of sexual assault. There is a significant rise in the trend compared with the same period last year.
While we commend Lagos State for establishing an institution to deal with the challenge, it is important that other states also begin to deal with what has become an epidemic with serious social implications. Indeed, recent studies across the states replicated the national malaise.
Assault and battery, even though serious offences in our law books, are hardly ever perceived as crimes by many of our law enforcement agencies, unless the acts ultimately culminate in death. In some instances, the police are extremely insensitive when dealing with the sexual abuse of minors, adding to the trauma of the survivors and their families. Besides, a pattern where survivors of sexual violence become targets of intimidation with the aid of law enforcement agents is unacceptable. It is imperative that the authorities make more efforts to understand the underlying causes and dynamics of this growing violence against Nigerian women and girls, if only to redeem the stability of the family unit, and consequently, the larger society.
While spousal abuse cuts across both sexes, women are predominantly the victims. Of late, the violence against women has been elevated in public spaces, culminating in their assault, indecent exposure, and emotional humiliation. The viral video of the Ibom Air passenger, Comfort Emmanson, and the female Youth Corper in Anambra State, Jennifer Elohor Edema, are, to say the least, vexatious.
Yet in many cases, abused women rarely report the violence they endure, for fear of being stigmatised by the society. Besides, deep-seated patriarchal interpretations within our various faiths preach endurance. Inevitably, the victim and the abuser are usually advised to find a way to settle their differences, rather than make public the injury or the violence within.
Curbing these incidents is therefore a collective responsibility. It is also the duty of governments, at all levels, to protect the most vulnerable by supporting the establishment of the necessary infrastructure and wherewithal, including safe houses, wherein abused children and women can be securely accommodated, counselled and enabled to regain some confidence and self-respect.
Ultimately, it behoves all Nigerians to remain diligent and cast away the complacency that has hitherto been the bane of the victims of abuse in our midst. Ignoring the subtle signals of violence inflicted on our women and children can only lead to disruption in our families and in our society. As Ngozi Ezeilo, SAN, former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Trafficking rightly stated, every woman deserves respect for her dignity, her privacy, and her bodily autonomy. It’s time to put an end to this disgraceful trend, by enforcing the laws in the books- from Child Rights Act to all laws protecting women’s rights. And if need be, by strengthening old laws to stem the abhorrent behaviour.
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Every woman deserves respect for her dignity, her privacy, and her bodily autonomy
