Study reveals gender based violence increasing in Nigeria

A 2018 study conducted by the Disability Rights Advocacy Centre (DRAC) shows that Gender Based Violence is on the increase in Nigeria, even with the enactment of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act 2015.

The baseline survey was on the knowledge, attitude and perception of the general population on violence against women and girls with disabilities with theme: “Fallen through the cracks.’’

Executive Director of DRAC, Ms. Irene Patrick, who disclosed this in Abuja on Friday, said that the study was conducted by DRAC with the support of Christoffel Bliden Mission (CBM), a German non-governmental organization.

According to her, the act seems to be getting worse with trends showing that women and girls with disabilities face triple marginalization, adding that also, the study revealed that one in every five Nigerian women experiences some form of abuse in her life time, with the abusers most times being a member of her family or an intimate acquaintance.

“According to the World Bank collection of development indicators complied in 2016, 49. 34 per cent of Nigeria’s 185 million population are females, with 19.2 per cent which is 17.6 million constituting women and girls with disabilities.

“Generally women in Nigeria are disadvantaged because of the patriarchal nature of the Nigeria society which sees women as the weaker sex and a second class citizen.

“This has affected the way women are treated, as they face marginalization and deprivation, and a woman with disability faces double disadvantage,’’ it said.

The study further showed that women and girls with disabilities are more vulnerable to gender based violence, especially sexual violence due to the limitations imposed by their disabilities and with perpetrators taking advantage of that.

“The multiple oppression women and girls with disabilities face leave these women and girls extremely vulnerable to their intimate partners and caregiver.

“In Nigeria, women and girls with disabilities have reported experiencing physical violence such as slapping, beatings, arm twisting, stabbing, strangling, burning, kicking and the likes by from intimate partners or family members,’’ the study indicated.

It revealed also that there were no statistics in Nigeria that clearly outlined the number of women and girls with disabilities who have experienced and who would continue to experience violence.