Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Lawal Pedro, SAN, has disclosed that the State recorded 33,009 cases of domestic and sexual violence between September 2021 and July 2026.
Pedro made the disclosure on Monday at a media parley organised to commemorate the 2026 Domestic and Sexual Violence Awareness Month in Lagos.
According to him, domestic violence remained the most frequently reported form of violence during the period, accounting for 13,515 cases.
He said the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency (DSVA) also recorded 1,171 cases of defilement, 797 cases of child abuse and physical assault, 420 rape cases, 428 sexual harassment cases and 100 cases of sexual assault by penetration.
Other cases reported included 95 incidents of technology-facilitated sexual and gender-based violence, 323 threats to life, 79 attempted rape cases and 1,861 family-related disputes involving issues such as custody, neglect, abduction and child labour.
The Attorney-General, however, described the number of children exposed to domestic violence as one of the most sobering findings from the data.
He said 10,613 children were identified as having suffered emotional abuse as a result of exposure to domestic violence in their homes.
Pedro stressed that children did not have to be direct targets of violence to suffer its consequences, noting that exposure to violence could leave lasting emotional scars.
He said: “This is why our response must extend beyond addressing the immediate incident to supporting the psychological well-being of those affected.”
Giving a breakdown of reported cases, Pedro said the state recorded 1,075 cases between September and December 2021, 5,929 in 2022, 6,389 in 2023, 7,882 in 2024, 7,721 in 2025 and 4,013 cases as of July 2026.
He noted that the figures showed a 23.6 per cent decline in reported cases between the two consecutive years under review.
Pedro, however, cautioned against interpreting the decline as an exact reduction in the prevalence of sexual and gender-based violence across the state.
According to him, reporting data could be influenced by several factors, including reporting behaviour, public awareness, access to services and changes in the channels through which survivors seek assistance.
“Nevertheless, we believe the decline is an important signal that must be examined alongside the considerable investments Lagos State has made in prevention, early intervention, community engagement and behavioural change,” he said.
The Attorney-General said the state’s objective was not merely to record fewer cases but to ensure that fewer people experienced violence in the first place.
He said the government had provided free legal support to 175 survivors through DSVA’s in-house lawyers, the Bureau of the Public Defender, private law firms and the Lagos Public Interest Law Partnership.
According to him, sexual assault survivors were also provided free access to treatment through general hospitals and primary healthcare centres under the SGBV Intervention Fund of the Lagos State Health Management Agency, as well as referral centres including Mirabel Centre, Women at Risk International Foundation and Idera Centre.
He disclosed that 40 survivors requiring immediate protection were accommodated at Eko Haven and other safe shelters, while the Agency’s Clinical Psychology Department provided psychotherapy and counselling to 953 survivors, 267 perpetrators and 304 children.
The state, he added, also conducted 501 rescue operations to provide immediate protection to people in dangerous environments.
On access to justice, Pedro said DSVA secured 20 restraining orders under the Lagos State Protection Against Domestic Violence Law 2015 and financially supported the investigation and prosecution of 464 SGBV-related cases.
He added that more than 711 cases were charged to court, while the Directorate of Public Prosecutions in the Ministry of Justice secured more than 160 convictions during the period.
The Attorney-General said domestic violence accounted for 75.5 per cent of reported assaults among adults, followed by failure to provide necessaries at 9.1 per cent.
Sexual harassment and rape each accounted for 2.4 per cent, while cyber harassment or release of pornographic material accounted for 0.7 per cent, threat to life 0.6 per cent, sexual assault by penetration 0.4 per cent and attempted rape 0.3 per cent.
Among children, he said emotional abuse accounted for 82.3 per cent of reported cases, followed by defilement at 8.2 per cent and physical assault or child abuse at 6.6 per cent.
Pedro said the data also revealed a link between mental health concerns and domestic violence, with 10 per cent of survivors reporting that their alleged abusers had been diagnosed with mental health conditions.
He added that 90 per cent of survivors reported psychological consequences including low self-esteem, post-traumatic stress disorder, extreme fear and anxiety, while about five per cent experienced depression requiring medical attention.
On referrals, he said 14 per cent of cases were referred to the police or Family Support Units, while 5.2 per cent received social services or maintenance support.
Health-related referrals to primary healthcare centres and hospitals accounted for 2.4 per cent, while 0.8 per cent were referred to the Bureau of the Public Defender.
About 35.3 per cent of cases were referred for alternative dispute resolution, with 17.2 per cent of survivors and their partners subsequently signing memoranda of understanding.
The Attorney-General said financial dependence on abusers, concerns about children and socio-cultural pressures were among factors contributing to delays in reporting domestic violence.
He said at least 35 per cent of survivors who reported domestic violence experienced the violence within the first five years of marriage, while seven per cent of reports were made after more than 10 years of marriage.
Pedro also disclosed that 30 per cent of women who reported abuse said they were pregnant when the abuse occurred.
He said the data showed that domestic and sexual violence cut across social and economic categories, noting that 47 per cent of survivors were employed, seven per cent self-employed, seven per cent students, 38 per cent unemployed and one per cent retired.
Among alleged perpetrators, 31 per cent were employed, 45 per cent self-employed, 12 per cent unemployed, one per cent students and 11 per cent unknown.
The highest adult case reports, he said, came from Alimosho, Ikorodu, Eti-Osa, Kosofe and Ikeja local government areas, while cases involving children were highest in Alimosho, Eti-Osa, Ikorodu, Kosofe and Ifako-Ijaiye.
Pedro said female reporters continued to constitute the majority, accounting for 88 per cent, while males accounted for 12 per cent.
He said reports involving children also declined, with cases involving girls dropping by 39 per cent and those involving boys by 27.8 per cent.
On prevention, the Attorney-General said DSVA reached an estimated 1,964,559 residents across the state’s 20 local government areas through sensitisation campaigns, market engagements, Community Development Association meetings, door-to-door campaigns and school outreach programmes.
He said more than 700 safeguarding and child protection officers across the six education districts were trained, while over 60,000 educators, parents and caregivers had been equipped through the Lagos State Safeguarding and Child Protection Online Course.
He added that DSVA had established sub-offices in Kosofe and Ikorodu to bring support services closer to residents.
The state also launched a policy framework on technology-facilitated sexual and gender-based violence in December 2025 and reintroduced the *6820# USSD short code to provide another channel for residents to seek information and support.
Pedro said DSVA had also provided technical support to more than 18 states of the federation, including the Federal Capital Territory, to assist them in developing structures for preventing and responding to domestic and sexual violence.
As part of activities for the 2026 awareness month, he said Lagos would embark on a campaign with the theme, “SGBV – It Ends With Us.”
He said the month-long campaign would include the “Turn Lagos Purple” initiative on September 1 along Ikorodu Road and in Lekki Phase 1, as well as “Turn Alausa Purple” on September 2, when public servants would wear purple ribbons as a symbol of solidarity against domestic and sexual violence.
Pedro said the activities were designed to deepen public awareness, strengthen prevention and response mechanisms and encourage residents to take collective responsibility for ending sexual and gender-based violence.
“Our ambition is not simply to see fewer cases appearing on our database. Our ambition is to see fewer people experiencing violence in the first place,” he said.