JUSTICE DEFERRED: CONFRONTING SEXUAL AND GENDER BASED VIOLENCE, STIGMA, AND SYSTEMIC FAILURE IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT: Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) remains endemic in Nigeria despite the passage of the Violence against Persons (Prohibition) Act 2015 (VAPP) and widespread domestication at state level. The problem persists and yet underreported due to pervasive cultural norms, social stigma, institutional incapacity across the justice chain, and a legal framework that seems not to have adapted to emerging forms of violence, such as digital SGBV. This paper examines how cultural narratives seem to silent reporting SGBV offences. It also addresses how police and the courts fail to deliver timely redress, and how new technologies create new harms with inadequate remedies. This paper argues that justice for survivors is denied not because of an absence of law, but because of three interlocking failures, namely, pervasive social stigma, institutional incapacity across the justice chain, and a legal framework that has not adapted to emerging forms of violence, such as digital SGBV. The aim of this paper is to examine the legal framework, social and institutional response to SGBV in Nigeria and to identify emerging frontiers. To interrogate the objective of the paper the following research questions are asked, namely, to what extent have the VAPP Act 2015 been effective in prevention, prosecution, and providing victim support in Nigeria. What are the structural, cultural, and institutional factors that perpetuate SGBV across diverse context in Nigeria? Drawing on doctrinal approach to legal research writing, the paper embarked on critical analysis of some relevant statutes, and case law remedies. Based on the critical analysis, some findings are recorded in this paper. The paper concludes with some recommendations and also points out that meaningful progress require moving beyond legislation to implementation, to redress pervasive cultural norms and stigma, and emerging digital SGBV offences.

KEYWORDS: Access to Justice, Digital SGBV, Sexual and Gender Based Violence, Stigma, VAPP Act 2015.