A total of 55 husbands have reported to the Lagos State Government
how their wives battered them in the last eight years in renewed cases
of domestic violence in the state.
The Attorney General and
Commissioner for Justice, Lagos State, Adeniji Kazeem at a media
briefing in Ikeja, yesterday, revealed that more men were now coming
forward to report cases of violence against them by their women.
Kazeem,
who is the chairman, Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team, DSVRT,
said there had been 55 cases of men reporting domestic violence against
them by their wives between January 2017 and now as against 14 that was
recorded last year, Vanguard reports.
However, Kazeem disclosed
that between January and September 2017, a total of 852 cases of
domestic violence and related cases were recorded in Lagos State, saying
that out of the total number, there were 564 domestic violence cases,
60 defilement cases, 30 rape cases, 11 attempted rape, 123 child neglect
and abuse cases, and 84 other cases.
He
said the data revealed that most of sexual assault cases were
perpetrated in the afternoon during weekdays, while corroborating that
95 percent of the perpetrators of sexual violence were known to the
victims, which according to him, necessitated the need to embark on
sensitization campaigns for parents on parenting skills and child abuse
prevention tips as well as training for children on child’s rights,
child abuse, safety and how to preserve evidence.
While some of
the cases have been charged to court, Kazeem said the State Government
through the Ministry of Youth and Social Development and other
stakeholders, provided shelter for the survivors. Aside that, the
Commissioner said all the survivors of sexual assault received medical
attention from comprehensive Primary Health Care Centres and referral
centres, among other efforts to properly rehabilitate and re-integrate
them into the society.
Kazeem, however, noted that under the
present administration, the interventions of DSVRT were gradually
breaking the silence around issues of sexual and gender based violence
in the state. “There is a growing confidence urging people to speak out
more, there is an astronomical increase in reporting of cases in the
media. Lagos has indeed revolutionized the way sexual and gender based
violence is being tackled in Nigeria with all the pioneering initiatives
of Governor Ambode,” Kazeem said.