Opinion: Violence against women is not a ‘family matter’

Domestic violence does not know race, religion or status. It affects every “level” in the society.

Domestic violence in simple terms is any form of violence against a person by another in a domestic relationship; either married or not married.

This could also be known as intimate-partner violence. According to the World Health Organization, Intimate partner violence is a behavior by an intimate partner or ex-partner that causes physical, sexual or psychological harm, including physical aggression, sexual coercion, and psychological abuse and controlling behaviors.

Some factors associated with intimate partner violence are: past history of violence, marital discord and dissatisfaction, difficulty in communication between partners, harmful use of alcohol, and so on.

For the purpose of this write up however, I’ll focus on domestic violence against women in marriage. This is not to say that men do not fall victim.

As a lawyer working with an NGO that supports female victims of violence, I have come across one too many of such intimate partner violence cases. The most alarming is the increase in the rate of domestic violence among couples aged 25- 40; one would expect that young couples these days who are said to marry “for love” will have minimal to nonexistent incidences of violence and more understanding because they are meant to learn from the mistakes of their parents and all that. But reverse is the case.

For instance, out of the 10 DV cases received by Project Alert in the month of January 2014, 7 of the victims are under the age of 40, as well as the perpetrators.

The sad part of this is where a victim of domestic violence reports the incident at the Police Station, she is told things like: “return home and beg your husband”, “madam na family matter” “madam if you cook for him he won’t beat you” “madam you too stop talking too much” amongst other disgusting statements from the men AND WOMEN who have sworn to protect its citizens. Where do our police officers get this idea that domestic violence is not an important matter? It is a case that involves threat to life, child neglect and sometimes, death of a victim as seen in the Arowolo case.

On the other hand, the lack of resources contributes to the seeming inaction of the police. Many times; a victim seeking redress has to cover some “expenses” to get justice.

The Lagos State Government in 2007 passed into law the Protection against Domestic Violence Law to prohibit domestic violence. This law basically provides redress for victims also called complainants; it empowers 3rd parties like the police, health service providers, a social worker or an NGO; amongst others, to apply for a protection order on behalf of such a victim.

It is expected that the victim will be made to understand the provisions of the law and how it applies to her before consent can be given.

The law also empowers the police to arrest without warrant, any person suspected of committing an offence containing an element of domestic violence against a complainant at the scene of an incident of domestic violence. What I do not understand is why it seems that the police ignore this law or maybe they are unaware of its existence.

I strongly suggest a series of training and re-training of our police officers on handling domestic violence cases and also training a set of police officers specifically to handle domestic violence cases. Such officers should also be trained in basic counseling procedures and they should be present in all police stations around Lagos.

Domestic violence does not know race, religion or status. It affects every “level” in the society. It is a multi-dimensional problem with series of short- and long-term physical, mental, sexual and reproductive health problems for survivors and for their children. It also leads to high social and economic costs to the society as a whole. It is a vicious cycle.

The first step to reducing it is for mindsets to change and victims encouraged to speak up and not treat it as a “family matter” because domestic violence is simply is not a family matter alone.