Lagos State’s Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT) said on Wednesday 194 men were reportedly assaulted by their partners in the past six months.
DSVRT provided the figure in its semi-annual report.
The report made available to journalists in Lagos is from January 2021 to June 2021.
The Nigerian News Agency (NAN) reports that this figure is 44.33% higher than the 108 cases of assault reported by men from January 2020 to June 2020.
According to the latest report, the DSVRT, from January 2021 to June 2021, handled 1,329 cases involving adults.
The data showed that 1,125 of the adults, representing 85 percent, were female while 194 (15 percent) were male.
The data revealed that 77 percent of adults were married, 11 percent single, seven percent, widowed and divorced while five percent were cohabiting.
In an interview with NAN, DSVRT Coordinator Ms Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi said there has been a steady increase in reported cases of gender-based violence by men and women in the state since 2014. .
She, however, said men had difficulty reporting incidents of assault by their partners largely due to cultural norms.
Vivor-Adeniyi said: “Patriarchy is everyone’s enemy because it keeps people silent.
“From a young age, men are not allowed to express themselves when they are going through trauma, and this continues into adulthood.
“When a man experiences violence, even his fellow human beings laugh at him, and such a person will not be able to speak out.
“With the data we see, we are confident that when men know about it, they can report these incidents.
“They will be treated with empathy and professionalism and they can be encouraged to speak up and report.”
The DSVRT report found that of the 1,329 adults, 1,236 were aged 18 to 45 while 93 were 45 and over.
Further breakdown of the figures showed that 954 adults reported domestic violence, 53 reported rape and 29 reported attempted rape and sexual assault.
The data also showed that 24 people reported penetrative and threatening sexual assaults, while 269 reported for the rest.
The DSVRT coordinator told NAN that all cases of sexual violence have been brought to court.
“The Department of Criminal Prosecutions has requested files.
“All cases of sexual assault by penetration are prosecuted in the tribunal de grande instance.
“All cases of sexual assault that do not include penetration are currently being prosecuted in the district court.
“For sexual violence, it’s clear, because all cases are prosecuted.
“Domestic violence, however, is not so clear because not all survivors want prosecution, they want the abuse to stop,” Vivour-Adeniyi said.
The report also found that the top five local government areas in which assaults were reported are Alimosho (200 cases), Ikeja (124 cases), Kosofe (123 cases), Ikorodu (115 cases) and Oshodi-Isolo (95 case). (NAN)
