…1,598 children experience emotional abuse
A total of 5,624 Sexual Gender Based Violence (SGBV) cases has been received in one year, the Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency (DSVA) of Lagos State revealed.
Titilayo Shitta-Bey, the solicitor-general and permanent secretary, Lagos State ministry of justice, stated this on Thursday at a media briefing to commemorate Domestic and Sexual Violence Awareness Month, which is the month of September.
Shitta-Bey, represented by Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi, the executive secretary, DSVA, said that from August 1, 2022, to July 2023, the agency received 5,624 cases via the Virtual Referral and Response Service (VRRS) and physical report. She said that the agency now receives an average of 250 clients on a monthly basis.
According to her, for cases concerning adults, 91 percent of survivors are female and nine percent are male, while for children, 45 percent of survivors are boys and 55 percent are girls. She also said that of the 5,624 violence cases, 2,331 reports were domestic violence, 90 were rape issues; 72 were sexual assault; one case was an attempt to commit rape; two were sexual assault by penetration and 123 of the cases concerned threat to life.
The permanent secretary said that there were 609 cases of separation, failure to take responsibility for children, neglect, child abduction, child labour, custody; 384 cases of non-gender-based violence – which were tenancy disputes, assault simplicita, among others.
She said that, of the 5,624 cases recorded, 143 were of child abuse/physical assault; 235 were defilement cases, three were of defilement/molestation by minor to minor; and 33 cases were sexual harassment/molestation.
“A total of 1,598 children have experienced emotional abuse (that is, these children have been exposed to domestic violence within the home),” she said.
