One in five Nigerian women between 15 and 49 has faced physical or sexual violence, a stark figure that underscores a crisis no longer up for debate.
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) released the statistic last Tuesday during a joint session with the European Union and International IDEA. Their focus: how journalists can expose institutional failures and dismantle the silence around sexual and gender-based violence.
Despite the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act of 2015, incidents of men assaulting wives or girlfriends surface daily. The law criminalizes spousal abandonment, battery, harmful traditional practices, and economic abuse. It also bans forced isolation from family and friends. Yet enforcement remains weak.
A new EU-backed initiative in Abuja aims to shift that dynamic. Journalists will receive specialized training to investigate and report SGBV cases with greater ethical care and sensitivity. The program, called the End Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Programme, targets the societal surge in these crimes.
Meanwhile, victims rarely come forward. Fear of stigma keeps abused women silent. Patriarchal religious interpretations often preach endurance, which has produced a culture of impunity. Law enforcement frequently dismisses assault and battery reports as private domestic matters, particularly between spouses.
This dismissal carries fatal consequences. Subtle warning signs go unchecked until they escalate to death. Police rarely treat these offenses as crimes unless a victim dies.
Stakeholders need to examine the root causes and patterns driving this violence. Only then can the family unit and broader society regain stability. The media collaboration must expand beyond journalism to include security agencies and government at every level.
That coordinated effort would demonstrate genuine concern for Nigerian women’s welfare and the nation’s future.
