Minister: Over 8,000 cases of SGBV pending in police stations, courts since 2021

Uju Kennedy, minister of women affairs, says more than 8,000 cases of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) against women and children, are still pending in police stations and courts since 2021.

Kennedy spoke in Abuja on Tuesday at an event organised to promote the rule of law and criminal pathways to address SGBV against women and children.

She said more than 24,000 gender-based violent cases were recorded across the 36 states of the country and the federal capital territory (FCT) in the past three years.

“About 8,540 cases of Sexual and Gender-based violence cases against women and children are still pending either at the police stations or within the courts spread across the country between August 2021 and 3rd October, 2023,” she said.

“About 24,720 various violence cases were reported within the same period in the 36 states and the FCT with 975 lives lost as a result of violence against women and girls while 1,505 cases have been closed either at the courts, community level, and religious/traditional leaders or by survivors themselves due to fear and intimidation.

“About 306 perpetrators of sexual and gender-based violence crimes have been convicted and sentenced to jail terms but we strongly believe that a stronger legal framework which includes the use of mobile courts will go a long way to reverse this ugly trend.

“Unfortunately, in Nigeria today, the issue of gender-based violence has been in existence for a long time as women and girls are faced with different kinds of violence, ranging from sexual, domestic, physical, psychological, cyberbullying, forced marriage and sex exploitation to trafficking.”