The Jakande Estate and Okota areas in Isolo local government have the highest number of reported cases of gender and sexual based violence in Lagos state in the past two years.
This was disclosed by the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice/Chairman of Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT), Mr. Adeniji Kazeem at a media parley to commemorate the 2018 Domestic and Sexual awareness month at Alausa on Monday.
The theme for this yearโs activities which is slated for this month is, โSecuring the home against Violence: Everyoneโs Responsibilityโ.
Kazeem who was represented by Mrs. Fumilola Odunlami, Solicitor-General/Permanent Secretary of the ministry further stated that from January to August this year DSVRT has received 3,089 reported cases of domestic and gender violence including child abuse.
โThis indicates that the number of reports has doubled since last year when DVSRT handled a total of 1044 cases for the entire yearโ, he said.
According to him while registered total convictions of gender and sexual based violence stands at 180 since 2014, for the period under review, January to August this year, there have been seven convictions for sexual assault.
The team he further disclosed, has given a stronger focus on children who have witnessed Intimate Partner Violence, adding that a total number of 1187 children have been exposed to domestic violence within the home this year.
โSome of these children have been taken through counseling programmes to ensure they are able to psychologically deal with the events they have witnessed without it having a permanent and negative impact on themโ.
There have also been reported cases of child abuse in 17 schools and all the schools involved, he said, are under investigation and all the defilement cases have been charged to court.
A total of 30 survivors, he said, have benefitted from the state governmentโs Domestic and Sexual Violence Trust Fund established by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to empower survivors of violence and child abuse by assisting them financially for relocation, medical expenses, business and education.
Activities lined up to mark this yearโs Domestic and Sexual Violence awareness month includes: a walk/mobile gender based violence clinic slated for Wednesday 12th , symposium, proposed for Tuesday 18th, premier of short film on different intricacies of domestic and social violence as well as a commendation/dinner night which will hold in last week of September.
According to Kazeem, โThe DSVRT provides an essential avenue for survivors and third parties to report instances of domestic, child and Sexual abuseโฆand it adopts a three-pronged approach to address these issues: ensuring the quick dispensation of justice; facilitating the provision of medical-related services and continual awareness and sensitizationโ.
