No fewer than 1,108 men have reported being domestically abused in six years.
This is according to the Lagos State Government through its Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency, had said.
Speaking at the unveiling of ”The Hidden Crime, Violence Against Men” initiative at Ikeja, the DSVA Executive Secretary, Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi, said men also experience some other kinds of violence.
She said that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, in his inaugural speech on May 29, informed Lagos residents of the addition of ‘PLUS’ into the THEMES Agenda.
The ‘PLUS’, the DSVA scribe said, represented Social Inclusion, Gender Equality and Youth.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the acronym, T.H.E.M.E.S, represents the six pillars of the State’s strategic development agenda.
They are Traffic Management and Transportation, Health and Environment, Education and Technology, Making Lagos a 21st Century Economy, Entertainment and Tourism, as well as Security and Governance”.
According to the DSVA scribe, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence is one of the greatest hindrances to achieving gender equality.
”It is, therefore, for these reasons, that the agency deemed it expedient to conceptualise this project – The Hidden Crime, Violence against Men.
”We believe that this will be an opportunity to continue to break the culture of silence, which encourages SGBV to thrive. Indeed, men and boys can be victims of domestic and sexual violence.
”A detailed overview of the data recorded over the past six years, revealed that 1,108 men have reported incidents of domestic violence.
“This, however, does not include male children that have experienced one form of GBV or the other,” she said.
The executive secretary disclosed that the agency’s recently concluded community engagement in over 10 local government areas revealed that Lagos’ residents believed that there had been less enlightenment and spotlight on men who were SGBV victims or survivors.
”We are also mindful of the research we conducted in 2016 in partnership with the Nigerian Prisons Service as they were referred to then.
”We are also mindful of the research we conducted in 2016 in partnership with the Nigerian Prisons Service as they were referred to then.
(Punch)
