COVID-19: Lagos Leads As 1,049 Domestic Violence Cases Reported In 2 Months

A report by Kimpact Development Initiative (KDI), through its Violence Tracker, shows that 1,049 domestic violence cases have been documented during the lockdown imposed on states to curtail the spread of COVID-19.

According to the group, out of the 1,049 domestic cases, 947 were against women.

The tracker is aimed at using "a scientific approach through data gathering by trained and deployed citizens to quantify violence" with a focus on electoral and gender-based violence.

The rise in the cases of domestic violence has been aided by the lockdown initiated by the Federal Government in a bid to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

The report stated that "violence against women took 92.5% of all forms of violence recorded during the lockdown," with most of the cases going unreported.

Violence tracker also noted that the victims are unable to seek help from relevant agencies, seeing as there is no structure that guarantees their safety.

"There has been a record of a monthly increase of 149% in reports of gender-based violence following the introduction of lockdown at the end of March."

READ ALSO: Three-Month-Old Baby Dies After Falling From Hospital Top Floor In Abuja

Breaking the reports of the violence down according to states, the report shows that Lagos, Bayelsa, Ekiti, Benue, Abia, Plateau, and Gombe states have the highest number of reported cases, with 193, 90, 55, 53, 48, 45, and 39 cases respectively; all of which were recorded during the lockdown.

The KDI group has, in its report, proffered some steps that can be taken to curb such acts and protect the victims of this form of violence.

It said that "KDI strongly recommends that the COVID-19 task force set up by the government should be expanded to include people tasked with monitoring issues related to gender-based violence, ensuring that all cases are reported to relevant agencies.

"A hotline needs to be set up by the task force for the reporting of any such case of domestic violence, and the anonymity of the victim should be prioritized.

"Care centers should be established to cater to the victims of gender-based violence, and offenders of acts of domestic violence should be prosecuted to serve as a deterrent to other offenders."