Omolabake Fasogbon
Despite several interventions, including legal instruments like the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act to curb Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) in Nigeria, the menace has continued to increase in the country.
This is according to the findings of a new study titled “Adolescent Girls and SGBV in Nigeria: Policy Issues and Perspectives.”
The research being a PhD thesis conducted among adolescent girls in Lagos and Ibadan, Oyo State’s capital, also identified poor response by health providers to cases of abuse, as being strengthening culture of silence amongst survivors.
It noted that this has further emboldened perpetrators of abuse across the country.
Speaking during a programme to disseminate study findings, the author who is a PhD student at University of Basel, Switzerland, Olutoyin Ikuteyijo, averred that the stage of adolescence remained a challenging one for girls given vulnerability from their gender and status as young persons.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recognised violence as a major challenge of adolescent girls between ages 15-19 who suffered intimate partner violence most.
The study also blamed the increasing incident on poorly equipped front liners and delayed justice while drawing attention to manners of abuse girls suffer, including threat of rituals.
Ikuteyijo said that the reality on ground required government to pay special attention to this age-group considering their naivety and vulnerability.
To successfully overcome the menace, she called for special budget for gender unit across government agencies.
“The agencies devoted to this cause are not sufficiently equipped. This is why cases mostly do not end in favour of survivors. Besides, we need government to invest in shelter, other than orphanage homes. This is important so that when a breadwinner is jailed, a survivor’s safety is assured,” she said.
On his part, the Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research, Innovation and Development, Obafemi Awolowo University, Prof. Akanni Akinyemi, wanted prevention mechanisms to be strengthened.
Akinyemi, who was the project’s supervisor, stated that all stakeholders including the community, religious groups and government have a role to play to achieve this.
“The conversation around prevention should be prioritised in communities. They should be responsive towards prevention which is better than cure. Jailing of perpetrators who may also be breadwinner in affected families has made the issue of SGBV more complex.”
