Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
Despite existing laws and awareness campaigns, sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) remains a major crisis in Nigeria, with 756 cases recorded by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) between January and July 2026. According to recent NAPTIP data, 549 cases were investigated, 64 arrests were made, and 183 victims were rescued, but only two cases resulted in convictions. Since its inception, the agency has recorded 5,255 reported cases, 2,887 investigations, 605 arrests, 40 successful cases, and 2,592 rescued victims.
The figures are a grim reminder of the scale of the crisis. Data from the 2024 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) shows that 21 per cent of Nigerian women aged 15 to 49 have experienced physical or sexual violence. Yet only 24 per cent of survivors sought help to stop the violence; 18 per cent told someone but did not seek help, while a staggering 58 per cent neither sought help nor told anyone.
The NDHS also found that 22 per cent of women and 16 per cent of men believed a husband was justified in beating his wife under certain circumstances. The Womanity Index 2025 Edition by Invictus Africa found that domestic or intimate partner violence accounted for 51 per cent of reported GBV cases. It also showed that 59 per cent of Nigerians have either experienced gender-based violence themselves or know someone who has. According to the report, 76 per cent of incidents occurred in the home, compared with 29 per cent in public places, 25 per cent in schools, and 20 per cent in workplaces.
Survivors were more likely to seek help from family, friends, religious leaders, and traditional leaders than from formal institutions, with trust playing a major role.
NAPTIP Head of Press and Public Relations, Vincent Adekoya, identified poverty, harmful traditional norms, insecurity, displacement, climate change, and technology as major factors exposing women and children to violence. He said: "Due to the low economic base of some families, they are forced to live in congested and uninhabitable homes in shanties with increased abuses". He also pointed to cultural practices that normalise violence and reinforce unequal gender roles, stating: "There are some existing cultural norms in some communities where the issues of SGBV are seen as part of the culture".
On insecurity and displacement, Adekoya said people who lose their homes and livelihoods become vulnerable: "Because people are displaced and their means of livelihood are affected, they become very vulnerable and may not be able to send their children to school or even feed them. This situation exposes them to abuses".
Technology, Adekoya noted, has created new avenues for perpetrators: "Perpetrators now use digital space and technology to groom their victims and later prey on them. They make friends with innocent children online, groom them for child pornography, revenge porn, and sextortion".
The 756 cases recorded in seven months represent just a fraction of the true scale of SGBV in Nigeria, with the NDHS data showing that the vast majority of survivors never report their abuse. The low conviction rate—only two out of 549 investigated cases—underscores the systemic failures in Nigeria's justice system, where perpetrators often escape accountability. Experts and advocates are now calling for tougher enforcement of existing laws, stronger judicial action, and better support for survivors to break the culture of silence and impunity that allows sexual violence to thrive.
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