Two thousand five hundred and eighty-eight children have been reported to suffered sexual assault, and abuse in one year in Lagos State.
The state government confirmed the figures in a statement issued by Permanent Secretary and Solicitor-General, Titilayo Shitta-Bey.
Shitta-Bey, who spoke during a news briefing as part of activities to flag off the 2023 Domestic and Sexual Violence Awareness Month, themed ‘Not in my Lagos, the children were emotionally abused during various domestic violence recorded in the state between August 2022 and July 2023.
She spoke through Executive Secretary, of the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency, Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi, noting that 40 per cent of those children have been taken through counselling programmes to ensure they can psychologically deal with the events they have witnessed without having a permanent and negative impact on them.
She said: “From August 1, 2022, to July 31, 2023, the agency has handled 5624 cases which are into two categories, adults and children.
According to her, the agency now receives an average of 250 clients every month. For adults- 91 per cent of survivors were female, 9 per cent were male, while for children- 45 per cent of survivors were boys, 55 per cent were girls.
In her words, in the period under review, the Agency has provided services to 7 Persons with Disabilities who were experiencing one form of Gender-Based Violence or the other.
She said the youngest child that experienced sexual violence was an 18-month-old baby, while the oldest client that experienced domestic violence was a 79-year-old woman.