SGBV: UN Women Demands Greater Public Awareness of Legal Protections

According to a recent assessment by UN Women, empowering citizens and holding authorities accountable requires widespread awareness of sexual and gender-based violence legislation.

Beatrice Eyong, UN Women Country Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, made this known in Abuja at a press conference ahead of Olubumi Uluba’s planned 220-hour Guinness World Record attempt to read aloud SGBV laws, frameworks and legal instruments from 15 African countries, including Nigeria.

The advocacy initiative is aimed at raising public awareness of laws and policies addressing SGBV while encouraging stronger implementation, legal literacy and cross-country learning in the fight against violence.

Explaining why UN Women is supporting the initiative, Eyong said people who were unaware of their legal rights could not effectively demand justice.

“This marathon is very, very important because if you don’t know the laws, if you don’t know what has been written about sexual and gender-based violence, you cannot assert your rights,” she said.

According to her, the same challenge applies to duty-bearers responsible for implementing laws and policies, noting that although African countries had made commitments through international and regional instruments, including protocols addressing women’s rights and gender-based violence, challenges remained in domestication and implementation.

Eyong stressed that the initiative would therefore help bring greater attention to existing legal frameworks while creating an opportunity for African countries to learn from one another.

She explained that the campaign would also help highlight areas where countries could improve their legal and institutional responses by examining best practices across jurisdictions.

“The significance of the initiative goes beyond Nigeria and the participating African countries because of the international attention expected from the record attempt. It has not been done before,” she said, adding that “the initiative could take the conversation about SGBV laws to a global audience.”

The UN Women representative also warned against treating gender-based violence as merely a private or social matter, stressing its wider impact on national development.

“Studies had shown that gender-based violence could have significant economic consequences, including reducing a country’s gross domestic product. It’s not just a social thing. It’s not just a health thing. It’s not just something that happens in the home. It is something that affects who we are, affects how others look at us, and affects our economic growth,” Eyong said.

She further emphasised that SGBV was not exclusively a women’s issue, noting that men and boys could also be victims.“It’s not just for women, it’s for men. And it’s not just for classes of women,” she said.

Dr. Abiodun Eseyat said the government would leverage the campaign to strengthen community engagement, SGBV prevention and survivor support. She emphasised public awareness of legal protections and urged traditional and religious leaders to help educate communities.

Eseyat also disclosed efforts to strengthen Sexual Assault Referral Centres, improve survivor support, review the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, and encourage the National Assembly to fast-track gender-related legislation.