GLOBAL DATABASE ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMENCOUNTRY-PROFILENIGERIACOUNTRY SNAPSHOT
Nigeria
Region: Africa / Population: 213,401M / Female Population: 105,574M
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Gender Inequality Index Rank
Global Gender Gap Index Rank
Lifetime Physical and/or Sexual Intimate Partner Violence
Physical and/or Sexual Intimate Partner Violence in the last 12 months
Lifetime Non-Partner Sexual Violence
Country Snapshot Measures CEDAW
Country Snapshots were developed by UN Women on the basis of information contained in the database, completed with other relevant sources
Laws & Policies
Constitutional Provisions on Violence against Women
NO
Stand-alone EVAW Law
YES

Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act (2015)

National Action Plan on VAW (latest one that is currently into force)
NO
National Strategy on VAW (latest one that is currently into force)
NO
Law against Sexual Harassment
YES

Sections 12, 17, 26 and defined in Section 46 of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act (2015)

 

Sections 351-361 of the Criminal Code, Chapter 77

Provision against Marital Rape
NO
Equality in Marriage and Divorce
YES

Matrimonial Causes Act

Minimum Age of Male Marriage
18

27 of Nigeria's 36 states have adopted Child Rights Act, so in some areas of the country the minimum age of marriage can be as low as 12 years-old

Minimum Age of Female Marriage
18

27 of Nigeria's 36 states have adopted Child Rights Act, so in some areas of the country the minimum age of marriage can be as low as 12 years-old

Law Prohibiting Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
YES

Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act (2015)

Assessment of Services for Women Survivors of Violence
Governance and Coordination
Existence of a governance structure or coordination mechanism
YES

Directories exist at the State level: Sokoto State GBV Response Referral Directory (by Sokoto State Ministry of Women and Children Affairs in Sokoto) Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Unified Protocol (by Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team in Lagos) Federal Capital Territory (FCT) SGBV Referral Pathway (by FCT Sexual and Gender Based Violence Response Team in FCT)

Justice
Availability of administrative data on justice
YES
Number of VAW specialized courts
14

Number of designated SGBV Courts in the FCT, Lagos, Adamawa, Edo, Yobe and Anambra States

Police
Availability of administrative data on police
YES
Number of police stations or units specialized in EVAW
1,720

all have Gender Desk Officers or what they call JWC/Family Support Unit

Number of law enforcement professionals trained to respond to incidents of VAW/G in accordance with a standardized curriculum
331

217: total number of area commands 37: total number of state commands 37: all State commands Gender Desk 30: FCT command and divisional HQ 10: Force Gender HQ

Social Services
Availability of administrative data on social services
YES
Number of social services (i.e. shelters, helplines, centres offering psycho-social counselling support)
35

Number of Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCS)

Experiencing Violence?
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