The recent public outcry by female law students of the University of Calabar against the dean of their faculty, Cyril Ndifon, over allegations of sexual harassment reinforced the fact that the prevalence of gender-based violence, particularly on Nigerian women and girls, undoubtedly persists and urgently needs to be addressed.
There have been repeated calls for more efforts to address gender-based violence as statistics show slow progress in addressing the malaise.
Between 2013 and 2018, findings from the Nigeria Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), revealed that the incidence of spousal, physical, sexual, or emotional violence grew from 25 per cent to 36 per cent, with spousal violence being the most prevalent.
Also from the DHS data, the most recent on the topic, instances of sexual violence against women from ages 15 to 49 increased from 36.9 per cent to 44.9 per cent.
Between 2017 and 2019, there has been an increase in reported sexual violence cases in Nigeria….