Lagos State Launches Nigeria's First GBV Prevention Policy

The Lagos State Government has unveiled Nigeria's first Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Prevention Policy, aimed at creating a data-driven framework to identify, monitor, and prevent sexual and gender-based violence throughout the state. This policy, launched on Thursday, shifts the focus from merely responding to reported cases to proactively identifying conditions, locations, and social norms that facilitate violence.

It incorporates localized data indicators, heat mapping, quarterly reviews, and public reporting to track GBV patterns and assess government interventions. The policy expands prevention strategies to include violence in homes, workplaces, schools, and digital spaces.

Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi, Executive Secretary of the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency, emphasized the need for a proactive approach to GBV. The policy consists of four prevention pillars: education and awareness, legal safeguards, survivor-centered services, and capacity building for first responders.

Implementation will be managed by a multi-sectoral Technical Working Group, with support from the Ford Foundation, operationalizing the state's zero tolerance for SGBV.