BENJAMIN OMOIKE
LAGOS, Nigeria – The Lagos State Government on Thursday said it recorded 2,495 domestic violence, rape and sexual assault cases in the last one year.
The Solicitor General and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, Ms Titilayo Shitta-Bey, disclosed this at a news conference in Alausa, Ikeja.
She said between August 1, 2022 and July 2023, the Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency (DSVA), handled 5,624 cases of which 2,331 were domestic violence cases, 90 rape cases, 72 sexual assault cases and two sexual assault by penetration cases.
Others are: one attempt to commit rape, 123 threat to life, 609 separation, failure to take responsibility of children, neglect, child abduction, child labour and custody cases; 384 non-GBV, (tenancy disputes, assault simplicity etc), 143 child abuse/physical assault, 235 defilement cases, three defilement/molestation by minor to minor and 33 sexual harassment/molestation cases.
Shitta-Bey, whose speech was read by Mrs Ttitilayo Vivour-Adeniyi, added that a total of 1,598 children have experienced emotional abuse (i.e these children have been exposed to Domestic Violence within the home).
The Solicitor-General explained that 40% of these children had been taken through counselling programmes to ensure they were able to psychologically deal with the events they had witnessed without it having a permanent and negative impact on them.
“We have also witnessed an increase in reporting of cases from other States; mostly from the South West and South East regions. In the past 11 Months, a total of 248 cases were reported outside Lagos. Such cases are promptly referred to the relevant agencies in their respective States.
“The Office of the Public Defender as well as the Lagos Public Interest Law Partnership (LPILP) have provided free legal representation to 79 survivors of Domestic Violence; Judicial Separation, Divorce, Maintenance, Custody of children and Settlement.
“All the survivors of Sexual Assault received medical attention from Comprehensive Primary Health Care Centres, General Hospitals and Sexual Assault Referral Centres including Mirabel Centre, Women at Risk International Foundation (WARIF) as well as Idera Centre,” she stated.
Shitta-Bey said in the period under review, the Agency had provided services to seven persons with disabilities who were experiencing one form of Gender Based Violence or the other.
“The youngest child that experienced sexual violence was an 18 months old baby, whilst the oldest clients that experienced domestic violence were a 79 year old woman,” she disclosed.
On assaults reported for adult and children, the Permanent Secretary stated that analysis of cases received from adults revealed t69% reported domestic violence, 10.7% reported sexual violence, 3% rape, 0.1% reported sexual assault by penetration and 2% reported sexual harassment.
Others are 3% reported threat to Life, 0.02% reported attempted rape, 1% cyber harassment (publication of nudes), 0.06% sexual violence leading to death, 1.02% case of incest, 0.1% sexual trafficking & exploitation, 10% reported Non-SGBV which included landlord and tenant matters, land grabber issues, cases of assaults involving strangers and neighbours and so on.
She added the analysis of cases received from children revealed 10% reported defilement, 0.1% reported defilement by minor to minor, 6% reported physical Assault/child abuse, 72% emotional abuse reported, 7% reported sexual molestation/harassment, 2.6% reported neglect/child abandonment, 0.3% reported child labour and 2% reported for other Non-GBV incidents respectively.
“Another analysis of the data revealed that there’s a link between mental health issues and domestic violence, as 10% of the survivors noted that their abusers are diagnosed of mental health issues.
“The effects of Sexual and Gender Based Violence cannot be overemphasized as 90% of the survivors disclosed that they have experienced low self esteem, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), extreme fear and anxiety, and about 5% suffered from depression and had to seek medical help.
“Some of the men and women that experienced domestic violence disclosed that they lost their means of livelihood as a result of the abuse.
“The agency has secured 21 restraining orders, granted by the courts pursuant to the Protection Against Domestic Violence Law, 2015 against abusive spouses. Furthermore, Lagos State Government through the Directorate of Public Prosecutions secured at least 120 judgments during the period under review,” Shitta-Bey.
