Nigeria gender violence cases exceed 30,000 between 2020 and 2024, Minister reveals, calling for urgent law enforcement, survivor support, and legal reforms

Nigeria gender violence cases have surpassed 30,000 within four years, according to a shocking disclosure by the Minister of Women Affairs, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim.

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The alarming figure was made public during a national knowledge-enhancing session held in Abuja on Tuesday, spotlighting the country’s ongoing struggle with Gender-Based Violence.

Represented by Mrs Adesuwa Ogundaye, Director of Legal Services at the Ministry, Sulaiman-Ibrahim quoted the Gender-Based Violence Data Situation Room Report, which revealed that one in every three Nigerian women has experienced violence in some form.

“These are not just statistics: they represent shattered lives, broken dreams, and generational trauma,” she said, painting a grim picture of the human toll behind the numbers.

The session was organised by the Federal Ministry of Justice and UN Women, with support from the Ford Foundation. It focused on strengthening access to justice and prevention mechanisms for gender-based violence across Nigeria.

While acknowledging the progress made in legal adoption — with the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act, 2015, passed in 35 states, and the Child Rights Act, 2003, adopted nationwide — the Minister stressed that implementation lags dangerously behind. “In many states, the funding, enforcement, and awareness required to operationalise these laws are lacking,” she stated.

Survivors, she added, often encounter justice systems that are “under-resourced, insensitive, or out of reach.” This disconnect between legal framework and real-world impact has left many victims without proper recourse or protection.

Sulaiman-Ibrahim called for a national reawakening on the importance of not just passing laws but making them work. “This must include capacity building for community actors, religious and traditional institutions, law enforcement agencies, and judicial officers,” she said. “Laws must not only exist; they must work.”

She further recommended the creation of a National Social Protection Agency dedicated to supporting survivors of gender-based violence and other vulnerable groups.

The proposed agency would provide coordinated access to emergency shelters, psychosocial support, health services, economic reintegration programmes, and legal aid.

“Such an agency will harmonise support services… ensuring no survivor is left behind,” she emphasised.

The Minister’s call to action arrives at a time when global attention on gender violence is intensifying, with development agencies pushing for holistic, intersectional responses that go beyond reactive measures.

Stakeholders at the Abuja event urged Nigerian policymakers to transition from symbolic legislation to functional intervention.

Experts warn that unless substantial investment is made in local justice systems and survivor-centred services, the legal gains already recorded will remain largely on paper.

“Survivors are being failed by a system that often puts them through more trauma,” one legal expert at the event noted. “It’s time for a total shift.”

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As Nigeria confronts its gender violence crisis, civil society, donors, and government agencies agree on one point: statistics may measure scope, but only tangible reforms will make a difference in the lives behind them.