Stakeholders have called on religious organisations, particularly churches, to take a stronger leadership role in the fight against gender-based violence, warning that perpetrators must not be allowed to hide behind faith, family or reconciliation.
The stakeholders made the call at a media roundtable, “Dialogue to Action: Advancing GBV Prevention and Organisational Sustainability,” organised by the Anglican Compassion and Development Initiative in Abuja.
The Programme Officer of ACADI, Chibuike Iroegbu, said religious institutions had a responsibility to confront gender-based violence within their communities rather than treating it as a private family matter.
He said the church must not become a safe haven for perpetrators, noting that many survivors turned to religious institutions because they believed they would receive protection and support.
“The church must get involved. It is a collective fight,” Iroegbu said, urging faith leaders to take a firm stand against all forms of gender-based violence.
He described GBV as one of the most widespread human rights violations in Nigeria, with serious social, economic and health consequences for individuals, families and communities.
Iroegbu also urged religious leaders to reconsider interpretations of marriage and separation that could compel victims to remain in abusive relationships.
He argued that the biblical injunction that what God had joined together should not be put asunder should not be used to force victims to remain in dangerous situations.
According to him, temporary separation could become necessary where it is required to protect a victim while the underlying issues are properly addressed.
A gender advocate, Suki Oretogba, similarly warned churches and families against protecting perpetrators at the expense of survivors.
She said the safety, dignity and recovery of victims must take priority over attempts to preserve relationships or reputations.
“Safety first before reconciliation,” Oretogba said, stressing that victims should first be removed from danger, supported and helped to regain confidence before reconciliation could be considered.
She warned that placing reconciliation above safety could amount to victimising the victim while indirectly shielding the perpetrator.
“We should shift the focus to protecting the victims,” she said, insisting that perpetrators should face the full weight of the law.
Oretogba said the church had an important role in tackling violence not only in marriages but also in families, schools, churches and communities.
She also called for an end to the culture of silence that encourages victims to endure abuse because of cultural expectations.
“Enduring a violent situation destroys you. The earlier you speak up, the earlier you are saved,” she said.
While acknowledging that women constitute a significant proportion of GBV victims, Oretogba said men and boys could also suffer abuse and should be encouraged to speak out.
A legal practitioner, Chimso Nzeagwu, said Nigeria had strengthened its legal framework for tackling gender-based violence, citing the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2015.
Nzeagwu said the law recognised various forms of abuse as serious offences, with several states having domesticated the legislation.
He, however, identified economic dependence, stigma, fear and ignorance as major barriers preventing victims from reporting abuse.
According to him, some victims remain in abusive relationships because they depend financially on their abusers or fear losing their homes, children and social standing.
He stressed that GBV went beyond physical assault, noting that emotional, verbal, psychological and financial abuse were also forms of violence.
“Your own life matters,” Nzeagwu said, advising victims whose environments had become unsafe to prioritise their safety and seek appropriate support.
He also urged men experiencing abuse to speak up and confide in trusted people.
Nzeagwu said Nigeria had laws capable of addressing GBV but maintained that poor reporting and the culture of silence remained major obstacles.
He urged religious and women’s organisations to intensify public education and encourage victims to report abuse.
The Administrative Officer of ACADI, Aduku Joy Oparaojiaku, said young people must be involved in designing and implementing programmes aimed at preventing gender-based violence.
She said the organisation’s youth-focused intervention was designed to make young people active participants rather than mere beneficiaries.
Oparaojiaku said prevention should begin with educating young people about boundaries, consent, respect and accountability in relationships.
She also called for a shift from repeated conversations about GBV to measurable interventions capable of changing attitudes and reducing violence.
She identified inadequate data as another major challenge, saying the lack of reliable information made it difficult to determine the true scale of GBV and measure changes in the behaviour of victims and perpetrators.
The stakeholders collectively called for stronger collaboration among religious organisations, government agencies, civil society groups, families and communities to prevent GBV, protect survivors and ensure accountability.
The intervention is part of ACADI’s nationwide Church of Nigeria Transformational Response to Gender-Based Violence (CON PREVENT GBV) project.
ACADI said that despite increased awareness of GBV, harmful social norms, inadequate survivor-support systems and limited institutional capacity continued to undermine efforts to tackle the problem.
The organisation said it had implemented GBV prevention interventions across the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) and surrounding communities over the past three years.
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