Gender-Based Violence in Nigeria: A Qualitative Review of Policy Responses and Social Work Intervention

Abstract

Gender-based violence (GBV) is among the most significant human rights violations and a significant issue of public health in the world, as women and girls are the disproportionate victims. The persistence of GBV in Nigeria is indicative of entrenched socio-cultural beliefs, structural disparities and institutional frailty that, to date, subject women to the spectrum of abusive behaviours. This paper provides a qualitative review of policy responses and social-work interventions that address GBV in Nigeria. The analysis was based on secondary sources like policy documents and empirical research. It dwelled on four main domains, which include: (i) the forms, patterns and prevalence of GBV in Nigeria; (ii) socio-cultural and structural factors that perpetuate GBV; (iii) legal and policy frameworks that have been developed to address GBV; and (iv) social-work interventions that can be used to alleviate the impact of GBV. As shown in the review, GBV is manifested in various ways, such as physical violence, rape, female genital mutilation, economic deprivation, child marriage and emotional abuse, and it is affected by patriarchal norms, poverty, poor enforcement of law, and gender inequality. Despite the enactment of notable legislative and policy mechanisms in Nigeria, including the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, the Child Rights Act, and the National Gender Policy, implementation is still uneven due to limited resources, institutional lapses, and socio-cultural opposition. The paper also emphasizes the importance of social workers that fulfill the policy-to-survivor support gap by means of psychosocial counselling, trauma-informed care, community education, policy advocacy, and multi-agency collaboration. The paper concludes that survivor centred services, conversion of harmful socio-cultural norms by means of community participation, better enforcement of the law and institutional coordination, and economic empowerment of the women and girls in the social protection programmes are the key to preventing GBV and improving the welfare and security of women and girls in Nigeria.

Keywords: Gender-Based violence, qualitative review, policy responses, social work, intervention