Gender-based violence during COVID-19 lockdown: case study of a community in Lagos, Nigeria
Background
Gender-based violence (GBV) has been identified to be one of the ripple effects of the global pandemic. In countries like Nigeria, the situation is hypothesized to be worse because of widespread poverty and gender inequalities.
Objective
To examine the exposure of females to GBV during the first 3 months of the COVID-19 lockdown.
Method
This cross-sectional study was conducted in a low-income community in Lagos. Semi-structured questionnaires were administered to 130 respondents selected via systematic random sampling.
Results
The mean age of the respondents was 26.89 ± 8.67 years. Majority worked informal jobs, while only 50% had attained beyond primary education. Within the period, the respondents had been subjected to sexual (54.6%), physical (52.3%), verbal assault (41.5%), and online sexual harassment (45.4%); of which only 30% reported to the police. Furthermore, respondents subjected to sexual (p=0.004) and physical assault (p=0.032) during the period earned significantly less money than other respondents.
Conclusion
The fact that over 1 out of every 2 females was subjected to at least one form of GBV within the short timeframe shows how unsafe girls and women in low-income communities are. This calls for proactive community-level interventions to curb the GBV menace.
Other Information
Published in: African Health Sciences
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
See article on publisher's website: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ahs.v22i2.10
History
Language
- English
Publisher
African Journals OnlinePublication Year
- 2022
License statement
This Item is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.Institution affiliated with
- Hamad Bin Khalifa University
- College of Science and Engineering - HBKU