The most recent enforcement figures by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) is recorded between January and July 2026, and that is 756 cases of sexual and gender-based violence, investigation of 549 cases, 64 arrests, and winning of two cases while rescuing 183 victims. The gap between cases recorded and convictions secured shows how long the road to justice is. Since its inception, the agency has recorded 5,255 reported cases but only 40 successful prosecutions.
Household surveys show the wider picture. The 2024 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey found that 21 per cent of women aged 15 to 49 had experienced physical or sexual violence. Note that this figure combines the two. The previous survey measured sexual violence separately: the 2018 survey found that 9 per cent of women aged 15 to 49 had experienced it, up from 7 per cent in 2013. The risk is not evenly spread. Prevalence in 2018 ranged from 5 per cent in the North West and South West to 16 per cent in the North East, and humanitarian research in the north-east has found even higher rates in displacement settings. A study of camps for internally displaced people found that about a third of respondents had experienced a form of sexual violence.
For many survivors, the abuse starts in childhood. The national Violence Against Children Survey, launched in 2015, remains the most comprehensive data available. It found that one in four girls and one in ten boys in Nigeria experience sexual violence before the age of 18. About 70 per cent of those affected reported more than one incident. The survey is more than a decade old, so these figures should be read as a baseline rather than a current rate. Even so, no newer national survey of comparable scope has replaced it.
The perpetrator is rarely a stranger. The 2025 Womanity Index found that 76 per cent of reported incidents of gender-based violence took place in the home, compared with 25 per cent in schools and 20 per cent in workplaces. Abuse happens in the places a child should feel safest, including home, school, places of worship and through relationships with trusted adults. A child who has never been taught about boundaries, consent and where to seek help may struggle to recognise abuse, let alone report it.
Silence is the most troubling part of the data. The 2024 survey found that only 24 per cent of survivors sought help, while 58 per cent neither sought help nor told anyone. The earlier child survey found the same pattern, with fewer than 5 per cent of children who experience violence receiving the support they need to recover. The pattern points to fear, stigma, victim-blaming, distrust of the justice system and families that put their reputation ahead of the child’s safety. The Womanity Index also found that survivors are more likely to turn to family, friends and religious or traditional leaders than to formal institutions. Trust, rather than awareness, is the barrier.
NAPTIP’s Head of Press and Public Relations, Vincent Adekoya, links the problem to poverty, harmful norms, insecurity, displacement and technology. He says families on low incomes who are forced into congested, unsafe housing face greater exposure to abuse, and some communities treat sexual violence as part of the culture. He also warns that perpetrators now use digital space to groom children, leading to child sexual abuse material, revenge porn and sextortion.
The numbers matter because of what happens after the violence. Survivors live with trauma, interrupted schooling, broken trust and, often, no income. Olaniran stresses that intervention should not end with reporting or prosecution, and that survivors need long-term psychosocial support. This is the gap Genesis House, our residential programme for young women aged 18 to 30, was built to fill. Over 12 months, each resident receives shelter, counselling, education, vocational training and help to reintegrate, so that recovery leads to independence.
If you or someone you know has been affected, speak to someone you trust and report to NAPTIP or the nearest Sexual Assault Referral Centre. For general enquiries about our work, contact us at info@freedomfoundationng.org.