Lagos records 4,860 domestic violence, rape, sexual assaults in 10 months

-As State records 4,860 cases of rape, sexual assaults in 10 months

IBRAHIM QUADRI

The Lagos State Government on Wednesday said a total of 4,860 cases of domestic violence, rape, sexual assaults and others have been reported in the state in the last 10 months.

The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Moyosore Onigbanjo disclosed this at a news conference commemorating the Domestic and Sexual Violence Awareness Month, September, 2022, held in Ikeja.

The figures are between the period of September 1, 2021 and July 31, 2022.

Giving a breakdown, Onigbanjo said there were 2,029 domestic violence cases, 65 rape cases, 40 sexual assault cases, 10 attempt to commit rape, five sexual assault by penetration, 73 threat to life and 488 others, such as separation, neglect, among others.

Others included 113 child abuse/physical assault, 194 defilement cases, 15 defilement/molestation by minor to minor, 105 child labour, abduction neglect and 145 sexual harassment/molestation cases.

The Attorney General added that a  total of 1,578 children had experienced emotional abuse, explaining that 55 percent 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 Ogun, Abia, Anambra and others respectively. In the past 11 Months, a total of 394 cases occurred 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) has provided free legal representation to 110 survivors of Domestic Violence, ranging from 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 like Mirabel Centre, Women at Risk International Foundation (WARIF) as well as Idera Centre,” he said.

Moyosore disclosed that the agency had provided services to nine persons with disabilities who were experiencing one form of gender-based violence or the other.

He further revealed that the youngest child that experienced sexual violence in the year under review was eight months, while the oldest clients that experienced domestic violence were 75-year-old woman and 89-year-old man.

On the domestic and sexual violence awareness month, September, 2022, the Attorney General said since 2015, the DSVRT had commemorated the Domestic and Sexual Violence Awareness Month, which has traditionally been in the month of September, to coincide with the month the Team was established in 2014.

“This has further been institutionalized by virtue of Mr. Governor giving assent to the Law establishing the Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency on the 20th of September, 2021. Various activities are usually earmarked to commemorate the Month.

“The theme of this year’s activities is “IT’S ON US”. This is based on the compelling need to ensure that residents of Lagos realise that ending the menace of Sexual Gender-Based Violence is indeed a collective effort which requires the support and collaboration of all members of society,” he said.