‘16 states yet to domesticate anti-violence law’

Six years after the Violence against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act was passed in 2015 to eliminate all forms of violence to human beings in Nigeria, 16 states are yet to domesticate the law.

Speaking in Abuja on Tuesday, Executive Director, Education as a Vaccine (EVA), Olabukunola Williams, said only 20 states had domesticated the Act.

According to her, even in states where the law exists, implementation processes are yet to begin and it is not effective.

Williams said rape spiked in Nigeria during the COVID-19 lockdown and many of the victims could not report and never got justice largely because of non-existence of the Act in some states and the “victim-blaming” culture of some law enforcement officers and many Nigerians.

EVA exhibited images of wears of rape victims to show that gender-based violence has nothing to do with what the victims wore.

Williams said EVA’s project on “What Was She Wearing” has shown that sexual violence has nothing to do with what the victims are wearing.

“We haven’t scratched the surface on addressing gender-based violence in Nigeria,” she said.