How we handled 200 cases of gender based violence in two years —Oyo SGBVRT

As the Oyo State Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Response team (Oyo SGBVRT) reviews its activities to start a new year, the need for stakeholders to put in more efforts to curb rising cases of gender violence was the focus of deliberations. YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE reports that in less than two years, the team has handled 200 cases of gender based violence while many cases still go unreported.

Over the years, cases of intimate partner violence have been an issue in Oyo State cutting across diverse age groups, religious affiliations or social status.  Indeed, in 2005, the African Journal of Reproductive Health, Vol. 9, No. 2, reports that wife beating, one of the most common forms of violence against women by husbands or other intimate male partners was high among civil servants.

The research then interviewed 431 civil servants in Oyo State via a 44-item self-administered questionnaire and results revealed that prevalence of wife beating was 31.3 per cent; 42.5 per cent of men had been perpetrators while 23.5 per cent women had been victims.

To put an end to the rising trend in the state, the Oyo State government on Thursday, May 23, 2019, inaugurated the Oyo State Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Response team (Oyo SGBVRT) in furtherance of its efforts to reduce to the barest minimum, incidences of violence in any form and to ensure the provisions of the Violence Against Women Prohibition Law passed by the state House of Assembly in 2016 is adequately implemented.

The 16-man committee was inaugurated at the Ministry of Justice by the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Oluwaseun Abimbola, who charged the team, not to see itself as a committee but a quick response team that would holistically approach issues of violence and stand firm in the face of obnoxious cultural sentiments.

According to him, gender-based violence is not about the female alone as anyone could be a victim of gender-based violence. He highlighted Sections 357 and 358 of the Criminal Code as well as Section 34 of the Child Rights law as important provisions.

At the period the team was set up, it was reported by the Director of Public Prosecution in the state, Mr S.O. Adeoye that 25 per cent of cases that come to his office borders on issues of violence against women, reiterating the need for more orientation so people can understand their rights and the importance of reporting cases of abuse.

The team members were drawn from different key sectors to create synergy and an all-inclusive team that would ensure the handling of cases in a way that would ensure victims get treatment, justice, counselling and rehabilitation without exposing them to more harm or stigma.

And almost two years after its creation, the Oyo SGBVRT has handled 200 cases of gender based violence matters covering all forms of violence and has rescued many victims from situations that may have led to their death due to violence at the home-front.

Some cases were referred to the Ministry of Women Affairs for monitoring, some handed over to the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) for prosecution, some referred to lawyers in cases where parties demanded outright divorce and some cases are still pending before the court.

In its almost two years of existence, the team has been able to stop cases of intimate partner violence leading to death of spouses but had also seen cases where partners had caused physical injury and mental anguish to their spouses and had had to put many victims through counseling.

The team had faced the challenge of breaking the culture of silence among victims as it had countless times dealt with cases where victims despite risk to their health and life were reluctant to disclose cases of victimisation and had opted to suffer in silence until their neigbours or relatives reported the cases on their behalf. Some religious leaders have also referred members of their congregation to the team to assess professional help when effort to reach the partner and make the m understand the dangers of abuse fails.

Part of the findings of the team is that many still hold the belief that issues between partners should never be discussed outside and involving law enforcement agents to settle domestic disputes is considered an aberration. Women are generally reluctant to disclose abuse because of the feeling of self blame, shame, loyalty to the abuser as well as fear because police officers are sometimes the perpetrators of violence against women.

Speaking on the experience of the team, the team lead, Mrs Dupe Awosemusi, a legal practitioner and director in the state Ministry of Justice stated that cultural and religious beliefs are huge enablers of gender based violence in the society, adding that while some women eventually leave violent relationships, many more remain in violent situations for years based on diverse reasoning; religious beliefs about divorce and separation, cultural beliefs and peoples’ negative reaction and belief about a divorced woman, the inability of some women to support themselves and their children economically, lack of support from family and the culture that tells women to endure even when their life is at risk.

She further highlighted that there are many misconceptions about gender based violence adding that many automatically believe that women are the only victims of gender violence. According to her, some women perpetrate violence against their spouses but usually, because of the cultural belief that created the bias that me are the stronger and must not cry, many men that are victims of abuse find it shameful to report and when they report, many embellish their reports with exaggerations and lies that make their cases better and when the lies are revealed, it destroys their case.

According to her, the team has seen many cases of couples lying against each other, citing the case of a man that reported his wife being unfaithful for years, packing out of the house and harassing him with police but was proved wrong when both were invited for mediation. She however emphasised that many men have genuine cases and have gone through hell from their partners, calling on men who have issues not to be ashamed because they also are protected by the law as no one should be made to experience violence.

One of the men that had appeared before the team with pathetic cases of abuse by their wives was Mr Osibodu Adekunle, who was barely lucky to be alive after experiencing violence from his wife.  He was tired down and beaten by touts employed by his wife in the presence of his two children, then bathed with acid after which his wife who packed everything in the house including his mobile phones and international passport. He was left to die but was lucky to be rescued the next day after which he started the herculean journey of getting well.

Till today, he cannot trace his wife or children who he heard came to Oyo State and he has no picture to show for them to be traced as the woman ensured she packed everything including his mobile phones as well as the family photo albums and she deactivated all her social media accounts. Osibodu is a living witness that men are also victims of gender based violence.

“Gender based violence is not about a particular gender though women are more vulnerable to abuse. Men are also victims of intimate partner violence in its various forms. It is important to eradicate community norms as well as cultural attitudes and beliefs that give rise to abusive behaviour towards women and also men. There is a need for the public to understand that violence is a criminal act punishable by law and the law does not exempt family members,” Awosemusi said.

Further, she told Nigerian Tribune that the team had a sharp rise in cases during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic when couples were forced to stay at home together for longer hours, reiterating that violence against women tends to increase in emergency situations, including epidemics due to issues like disruption of social and protective networks, increased economic hardship and decreased access to services.

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