Official documents from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) revealed that Delta State is first among the 36 states in the country with the highest number of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) court cases.
An exclusive of the International Center for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), the NHRC document showed that in 2020 a total of 104,280 court cases of violations of women’s rights and women’s rights and 128,320 reports of sexual and gender-based violence were won through the commission.
Delta State tops the list with 14,735 complaints of sexual and gender-based violence and 11,346 complaints for women’s rights and gender.
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The report, which is the commission’s most recent, showed that there were a total of 1,287,750 court cases of human rights violations won in 2020.
However, this is 17,089 fewer than the total number of court cases won through the commission in 2019.
The relief in the number of complaints, according to the CNDH, is attributed to the pandemic-induced confinement, which would possibly have been reduced for potential whistleblowers.
The other states with the number of complaints are the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) with 10,299, Borno with 10,016, Imo with 9,687 and Edo with 9,419 ESR complaints.
The court cases won for violations of women’s rights and women’s rights are 8,216 from THE FCT, 7,789 from Edo, 7,511 from Borno and 7,395 from Imo.
Cases of sexual and gender-based violence, violations of women’s rights and women’s rights peaked in the year of the pandemic in 2020, leading to the declaration of a state of emergency for sexual and gender-based violence.
According to a United Nations report on Women, cases of sexual and gender-based violence have worsened the confinement due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report “Measuring the Phantom Pandemic: Violence Against Women COVID-19” states that 45% of women in the countries where the studies were conducted, Nigeria added, have been exposed to at least one form of direct or indirect violence.
Although women experienced violence before the pandemic, there has been an increase in the number of women exposed to sexual and gender-based violence, according to the report.
Sisi Afrika, the initiator of Feminists Inspiring Gender Unity, Respect and Equality (FIGURE), believes that the backlog of cases of sexual and gender-based violence is due to the fact that teams and activists of individual tension are addressing this social risk from an individualistic perspective.
“And what I mean by that is the fact that cases of sexual and gender-based violence are treated as a singles challenge with projects like sex offender registration without treating it holistically as a conglomeration of what patriarchy has explained to our society to treat women. “”She said. .
He added that for justice to be done, it will be mandatory to move beyond the confinement of the bars of the perpetrators of SGBV. It would be mandatory to address root reasons and rehabilitate and re-educate perpetrators before releasing them.
One lawyer, Aderonke Adedoyin, said the collective efforts of Americans and civil rights teams to fight the risk of sexual and gender-based violence/violence against women and abuse of women’s rights can do a lot without systems to complement their efforts.
She said: “The continuous accumulation remains because the perpetrators of those crimes exist and walk freely. The ripple effect is that it emboldens would-be criminals who bring the legacy of perpetuating sex crimes. Other points that contribute include, but are not limited to, the predominance of patriarchal and sexist perspectives that put women at risk, a low point of acceptance as truth in public government due to biased law enforcement practices, as a result, some cases of sexual crimes go unreported. “
Adedoyin said: “Sexual and gender-based violence/human rights abuse is just one of the many human rights violations. To curb its threat, properly funded and well-organized establishments dealing exclusively with sexual and gender-based violence will have to be created. .
He added that it is necessary to act at the state point in the face of crimes of sexual violence.
According to her, of Nigeria’s 36 states, 18 states have domesticated the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act (VAPP).
“It is unexpected that these states have the number of reported cases, since the southeastern states and the F. C. T are on the front line in the fight against crimes of sexual and gender-based violence. All southeastern states have ratified the VAPP law while 3 southern states have domesticated the law, two states are awaiting approval, and one state has not yet enacted the bill. “
States that have domesticated VAPP are more likely to sign on to higher court cases because patients have more confidence in the system.
The enactment of spending at the state point will also replace the culture in Nigeria, far from “blaming the victim,” says Doris Ikpeze, policy adviser at Ipas – Partners for Reproductive Justice – Nigeria, in a report published on the organization’s website.
“Because of the stigma related to rape, women and women do not accept that the police, courts, or even fitness providers provide them with assistance after being assaulted and therefore do not report the crime,” Ikepze explained.
Omolola Pedro is a reporter/fact-checker at the International Center for Investigative Journalism. She believes in a society for all. She has a deep interest in gender equality, social ice and human rights coverage.
You can tap it via email opedro@icirnigeria. org, Twitter:@pedro_omolola
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