November 09, 2015 – Number of rape cases and sexual violence in Lagos State is on the rise. The latest statistics shows that at least 14,166 sexual and domestic violence cases were handled in Lagos in the last eight years.
Director, Office of Public Defender, Mrs. Omotola Rotimi who made the revelation said most of the victims are exposed to stigmitisation as a result of sensationalism by the media.
Speaking at the 2015 Press Week organised by the Lagos State Governor’s Office Correspondents, LAGOCO, she said the OPD handled about 70 cases of child defilement this year alone. While no fewer than 406 rape cases were reported between January and September this year.
“Total number of rape cases handled by OPD from January to September, 2015 is 406 while 1,143 of such cases were treated from 2007 till date. On Physical child abuse we recorded 138 cases between January and September, 2015 while a total of 1,521 cases were also treated by OPD from 2007.”
She added that 2,469 children were taken into custody due to sexual assault and other related issues while 813 of such children were handled this year alone.
The OPD boss, who appealed to the media professionals to help reduce stigmitisation of the victims by hiding their identity, also said that the agency recorded 1,889 cases of sexual abuse since 2007.
According to her, 455 of the sexual assault cases were reported this year alone.
“While we urge everyone to stand up against sexual and domestic violence, OPD recorded 2,166 cases of domestic violence and 348 of the cases were reported this year alone. As for other matrimonial issues, we have 658 cases from January to September and 1,791 since the inception of the agency.
On her part, the state Cordinator of Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team, DSVRT, Mrs Titilola Vivor-Adeniyi, said that most of the victims are forced to discontinue with the prosecution of the perpetrators.
Meanwhile, LAGOCO Chairman, Mr Joshua Bassey also charged the media to protect the identity of victims of sexual violence. This, he said, is the first step in the fighting against the menace.
