MINNA: 175 rape cases have been recorded in Niger State since January 2021 to date, the State Gender-Based Violence Management Committee has disclosed.
The Secretary of the committee and Permanent Secretary of the Niger State Ministry for Women Affairs and Social Development, Kaltum Dauda Rufai disclosed this at a one-day Anti GBV Close Out Project Workshop.
The program was organized by the Niger state GBV Management Committee in conjunction with the Nigerian Academy of Science (NAS) in Minna.
Rufai said that out of these cases, only eight convictions have been recorded, with about 160 cases still undergoing trial.
This, she ascribed to the slow judicial system of the country, stigmatization as well as the fear of reprisal by perpetrators.
Giving a breakdown of the number of gender-based violence reported to the committee since its inauguration in February 2021, Rufai also disclosed that 55 cases of wife battery were recorded.
This is in addition to 67 cases of street hawking, 25 forced marriages, and 3,500 school withdrawals across the state.
The Permanent Secretary also said that increased gender-based violence was a result of the ongoing insecurity, especially in rural areas.
Corroborating her remarks, the representative of the Rayuwa Sexual Assault Referral Centre, Anne Nwakpuda said that the centre has recorded 37 rape cases since the beginning of the year.
Nwakpuda said that the activities of the state GBV management committee have tremendously toned down the culture of silence that earlier ruled over GBV cases.
She, however, said that more needs to be done to motivate people to seek conviction of such cases reported to authorities.
“The survivors all want treatment and so they come to us, but shortly after, they come back seeking to withdraw their cases which is not encouraging,” she said.