June 2020, Uwaila Vera Omozuwa a 22-year-old microbiology student is brutally raped and killed in a Benin City church. 18-year-old Barakat Bello is raped and killed at a local market in Ibadan. April 2020, 18-year-old Jennifer was attacked and raped by five men in Kaduna.
These are only the most recent cases of Gender Based Violence (GBV) that have permeated the Nigeria news cycle. GBV, is one of the most oppressive forms of gender inequality, serving as a structural hindrance to the equal participation of women and men in social, economic, and political sphere. GBV affects both men and women, but women are much more vulnerable because violence often reflects and reinforces existing gender inequalities. In 2016, the United Nations estimated the global cost of violence against women to be $1.5 trillion, equivalent to approximately 2 percent of the global gross domestic product or roughly the size of the entire Canadian economy.
These economic costs help us to contextualise the scale of the problem in financial terms to individuals, families, communities, and the society. Despite the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on gender, particularly goal 5.2 working to eliminate violence against women and girls, progress has been slow, and much more will need to be done to achieve this goal. It is important to note that costing violence against women is a relatively new area of research which involves the collection of delicate information from women who have been survivors of violence. Most of the current research has been drawn from national level demographic health surveys.
Globally 35 percent of women are survivors of gender-based violence with WHO estimating that 38 percent of all women murdered are killed by their intimate partners (across all countries with available data since 1982). A joint Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development/UNFPA 2018 survey shows that 28 percent of Nigerian women aged 25-29 have experienced some form of physical violence since age 15. A similar UNFPA report states that “3 in 10 Nigerian women have experienced physical violence by age 15”. These statistics serve as the backdrop for the economic costs of GBV which include expenditures on healthcare costs, lost income for women and their families and decreased productivity which is burdensome to Nigeria’s economy.
A 2015 study by researchers at Coventry University on the costs of GBV to Nigerian Households found the average unit cost per incident of ₦16,465.66 (equivalent to 29,963/ $83 in 2020) on each household, despite the fact that 40 percent of Nigerian population ((National Bureau of Statistics estimates over 82.9 million people) live below the poverty line of 137,430 naira /$381.75 a year. This signifies not just a major drain on household finances but on the overall economic development of the country. Nigeria’s GBV crisis is further hampered by the absence of coordination amongst key stakeholders, poor execution of legal frameworks, and deep-rooted discriminatory norms. The ongoing COVID19 pandemic has also compounded the GBV with lockdown procedures leading to reported increases in domestic violence in 23 out of 36 states in Nigeria according to a UN Women report published in May 2020.
It is important to note that the implementation of the Violence against Persons Prohibited (VAPP) has been relatively non-existent since it was passed in 2015. The Nigerian Government must work to ensure all states develop action plans that enforce the implementation of the VAPP Act, along with providing appropriate funding channels to these states
On June 12, 2020, The Nigerian Governors forum declared state of emergency on sexual and GBV committing additional funding for the prevention and response to sexual and gender-based violence through appropriate Ministries, Departments and Agencies. The Forum also called on all 36 states to set up a sex offender’s register and to sign on to two federal laws which punish rape and violence against women and children. However, many fear these declarations are not sufficient to address this national scourge. The Nigerian Government must work to develop more effective, transparent, and comprehensive GBV prevention and response interventions including amplifying women leaders and groups. Particular attention must be paid to harmful patriarchal social, cultural, traditional, and religious norms that perpetuate gender-based violence.
It is important to note that the implementation of the Violence against Persons Prohibited (VAPP) has been relatively non-existent since it was passed in 2015. The Nigerian Government must work to ensure all states develop action plans that enforce the implementation of the VAPP Act, along with providing appropriate funding channels to these states.
Nigeria is a signatory to the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the most advanced agenda for promoting women’s rights globally which marks its 25th anniversary this year. McKinsey Institute has drawn a connection between women’s empowerment and economic development as gender equality is linked to prosperity and the possibility of adding $12 trillion to the global GDP by 2025. If Nigeria plans to address GBV and ensure justice is served for Uwaila, Jennifer, Barakat and countless other victims it must start to see GBV as not just a women’s issue but a human rights issue with significant economic ramifications for the entire country.
Special thanks to Dr. Nonso Obikili for his review and input on the topic
Chioma Okafor
Chioma Okafor is a Global Health Professional with 8 years of public health experience in health systems strengthening for infectious disease and non-communicable diseases in South East Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
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