Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State has the highest number of sexual violence-based and gender abuses, including rape in Nigeria, with the most recent that claimed a teenager's life only two months ago, an expert has revealed.
Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) is one of the most extreme of unequal gender relations in the society. It is a violation of fundamental human rights and a global health and developmental issue.
The Executive Director of the Women's Right and Health Project (WRAHP) and founder of IRETI Resource Centre, Bose Iro Nsi disclosed this at a recent briefing with community leaders in Alimosho.
Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) continues to be "the most pervasive, yet least recognised human rights abuse in the world," she told the gathering of community elders.
She said forms of sexual violence include rape, domestic violence, sexual assault, trafficking of women and girls, prostitution, female genital mutilation, harassment and forced marriage.
According to Iro Nsi, the majority of SGBV cases involve women and girls, but men and boys are also affected.
In Nigeria, a 22-year-old first year Microbiology student of the University of Benin, Edo State, Vera Uwaila Omozuwa, was raped and murdered while reading at her local church on the 27th of May, 2020. This is one among the many rape cases.
Iro Nsi spoke about the results of a research conducted by the Women's Rights and Health Project (WRAHP) to document the linkages between COVID-19 and SGBV, and the level of SGBV within the context of social lockdown in Alimosho LGA, Lagos State.
According to her: "Results of the survey revealed that there is a relationship between the prevalence of gender-based violence during lockdown restrictions among couples, with 6 per cent reporting that they were coerced into sexual activities by their mates, while 15 per cent reported witnessing an act of SGBV in the last month.
"Alimosho Local Government Area accounted for the highest SGBV cases prior to the COVID-19 lockdown, and this situation worsened during the lockdown."
Iro Nsi emphasized the need for elected representatives and community leaders to strengthen legal systems and combat the cultural norms that sustain crimes against women and girls.
She said there is a need for policy-makers to provide the political will to enable law enforcement officers and community members to identify Gender-Based Violence as the crime that it is and not as a private" family matter.
She concluded that when this is done, women would be able to seek help or report the violence when it happens.