Between January and September 2017, a total of 852 cases of domestic violence and related cases were recorded in Lagos state, the State’s Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT) has disclosed.
Speaking at a press conference in Lagos on Tuesday to commemorate the Domestic and Sexual Violence Awareness Month, the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Adeniji Kazeem, said 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.
Kazeem, who is also the Chairman of DSVRT, said the trend from the data showed an increase in men coming forward to report cases of domestic violence, just as he said that this year alone, a total number of 55 men came forward to report in contrast to 14 men that reported last year.
He said the data revealed that most of sexual assault cases were perpetrated in the afternoon during weekdays, while corroborating that 95 per cent of the perpetrators of sexual violence are known to the victims.
This, according to him, necessitated the need to embark on sensitisation campaigns for parents on parenting skills and child abuse prevention tips as well as trainings 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.
He also 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.
