Citizens’ Gavel Launches Campaign for Churches to Prevent Intimate Partner Violence

Kuni Tyessi in Abuja

Citizens’ Gavel, a nongovernmental organization has launched a campaign aimed at preventing Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) in Nigeria and says it’s willing to partner with interested churches to ensure that digital tool is accessible, discreet, and easy to use.

At the heart of this strategy will be the Intimate Relationship Indicators Screening, IRIS, a digital behavioural assessment tool that will be customised and integrated into the pre-marital counselling processes of interested churches.

In a statement signed by its Programmes Lead, Oluwatosin Ariyo, it says at a time when IPV continues to affect countless homes across Nigeria, IRIS represents a shift from reactive responses to proactive, early-stage prevention.

He said the goal of IRIS will not be fault-finding or labelling, but growth and as a diagnostic tool, it will be built on the understanding that healthy relationships require self-awareness, accountability, and intentional effort.

He said that in most cases intervention only occurs after serious emotional, psychological, or physical harm has already taken place. This campaign aims to change this trajectory.

“Over the years, our work has revealed a recurring pattern; many survivors of domestic violence remain in abusive relationships due to emotional dependency, financial limitations, cultural expectations, or fear of stigma.

“Individuals and couples would be empowered to identify unhealthy behavioural patterns early and intentionally work to adjust and correct them through carefully curated behavioural corrective modules.

“The goal is to encourage personal growth, improve partner awareness, and healthier relationship outcomes before such behaviours escalate into violence or abuse.

“By helping users recognise behaviours that may be harmful to their partner or the relationship, IRIS aims to encourage individuals to actively work on themselves, become better partners, and ultimately strengthen their relationships.

“IRIS will be developed in collaboration with marriage counsellors and certified behavioural and clinical psychologists. It will make use of subtle, research-backed questions to assess core areas that causes friction in relationship dynamics, emotional regulation, communication styles, and conflict management.

“It can be integrated into pre-marital counselling programmes for intending couples, adopted by married couples seeking to improve and strengthen their relationship, or accessed individually by anyone pursuing deeper self-understanding and emotional readiness before making a long-term commitment.

“Ultimately, IRIS will serve as a preventive solution designed to reduce Intimate Partner Violence by equipping individuals and couples with the self-awareness, emotional maturity, and tools needed to build stable, respectful, and loving homes.

“With this strategy, Citizens’ Gavel reaffirms its commitment to building safer families, communities and advancing proactive, technology-enabled approaches to justice, wellbeing, and healthy family life.”