Introduction
Gender-based violence (GBV) remains one of the most urgent protection and development challenges across Nigeria, and its impacts are particularly acute in the northern regions where conflict, displacement, poverty, and harmful social norms intersect. Over the last decade humanitarian actors, government agencies, and civil society have scaled up prevention, response, and coordination efforts, yet persistent gaps in service coverage, prevention, and accountability continue to leave many survivors without meaningful protection or redress. This review summarizes recent activities in northern Nigeria, highlights measurable results and remaining challenges, and suggests priorities for action based on verifiable data and sector reporting.
The scale and character of GBV in the North
Reliable national surveys and protection monitoring show GBV is widespread in Nigeria. The 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) found that 31% of ever-married women aged 15–49 had experienced physical violence and 9% had experienced sexual violence in their lifetime, with regional variations showing higher rates in some northern zones (National Population Commission [NPC] & ICF, 2019). In conflict-affected states in the North-East (Borno, Adamawa, Yobe — commonly referenced as the BAY states), GBV is often aggravated by armed group attacks, displacement, and community collapse. Protection cluster reporting for 2024 documented 1,028 conflict-related GBV incidents in the BAY area alone, with children comprising 62% of survivors in recorded cases (Protection Sector North-East Nigeria [PSNE], 2025). Many incidents included sexual violence, forced or early marriage used as a coping or coercive mechanism, and violence committed in contexts of abduction or village attacks.
What actors are doing: prevention, response, and coordination
- Coordination mechanisms and data systems
A notable development in recent years has been stronger coordination through GBV coordination platforms and the roll-out of standard reporting and referral systems. In the North-East, the GBV Area of Responsibility (AoR) and the Protection Sector have produced annual reports and operational plans that map services, identify priority locations, and track referrals between actors such as health providers, psychosocial support teams, legal aid providers, and community-based protection groups (GBV Area of Responsibility [AoR] Northeast Nigeria, 2025). These coordination bodies also maintain GBVIMS (Gender-Based Violence Information Management System) or equivalent tools to collect and analyze case data, which helps identify trends and service gaps. - Health and medical response
Health partners (both government and NGOs) have scaled up clinical management of rape (CMR) services at selected hospitals and primary care facilities, and mobile medical teams have been deployed to reach displaced populations where facilities have been destroyed. Where functioning, these services offer emergency contraception, post-exposure prophylaxis for HIV, and clinical documentation for survivors — all vital for health and legal pathways (Global Protection Cluster Nigeria, 2024). However, health coverage remains uneven: many rural or insecure areas lack trained staff, supplies, or privacy for survivors, limiting timely access to care. Humanitarian reports note the concentration of services in larger towns while smaller host communities and camps remain underserved. - Psychosocial support and child protection
Psychosocial support (PSS) has been a major component of response packages, especially given the high proportion of children among GBV survivors in conflict zones. Child-friendly spaces, trauma-informed counseling, and case management systems are now more widely used by protection actors to provide ongoing support, reunification services, and referrals (Global Protection Cluster Nigeria, 2024). Nevertheless, service demand continues to outpace supply: Protection cluster reporting in 2024 recorded hundreds of conflict-related GBV cases, with many survivors reporting delays in accessing PSS or having to travel long distances to reach services. - Legal assistance and accountability
Legal aid and community paralegal programs aim to help survivors navigate police processes, file complaints, and pursue civil remedies. There has been progress in awareness-raising on rights and legal recourse, and some states have domesticated the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act (2015), giving stronger legal frameworks to prosecute GBV. By late 2022, 34 of Nigeria’s 36 states plus the FCT had domesticated the VAPP Act (Premium Times Nigeria, 2022). However, implementation is uneven: in practice survivors face obstacles such as police insensitivity, costs, stigma, and weak prosecution capacity, and some states still lack effective enforcement. - Community engagement and prevention
Prevention work has included community dialogues, faith and traditional leader engagement, life-skills and safe-spaces programming for adolescents, and social norms campaigns designed to reduce tolerance for violence (UN Women Africa, 2023). In the North-East, humanitarian actors have tried to integrate GBV prevention into broader livelihood, cash assistance, and protection programs to address root drivers like poverty and dependency that can increase vulnerability to practices such as early marriage. While these activities are promising, evaluations repeatedly show prevention needs sustained long-term investment to shift norms — short project cycles and funding gaps hinder continuity.
Data and monitoring: progress and limitations
The recent Protection Sector/GBV cluster reporting provides valuable operational data — for example, sector summaries in 2024 reported more than 900 conflict-related GBV incidents in some North-East reporting streams, with a majority of survivors recorded as children (PSNE, 2025). These monitoring systems allow agencies to prioritize locations and track referral completion.
Yet, available data underestimate the true scale. Underreporting is pervasive due to stigma, fear of retaliation, lack of confidential services, and limited trust in institutions. National survey estimates (e.g., NDHS 2018) provide critical prevalence benchmarks; the survey reports that roughly one-third of women have experienced some form of physical or sexual violence in their lifetime — a baseline that should drive the scale of programming and resource allocation (NPC & ICF, 2019). The combination of survey data and protection monitoring creates a clearer picture but also underscores enormous unmet needs.
Key obstacles that limit impact
- Insecurity and access constraints
Armed conflict, banditry, and military operations continue to restrict humanitarian access to many rural communities, particularly in the North-East and parts of the North-West. When access is limited, service delivery (health, case management, legal support) is intermittent or absent, and survivors are left without lifesaving care (Global Protection Cluster Nigeria, 2024). - Funding shortfalls and short project cycles
Humanitarian GBV programming is chronically underfunded relative to need. Funds that do exist are often short-term, limiting the ability of organizations to sustain community-level prevention and long-term psychosocial support (ReliefWeb, 2025). - Legal and institutional weaknesses
While many states have taken steps to domesticate the VAPP Act, gaps remain in implementation, police sensitivity, and judicial follow-through. Survivors often encounter barriers when seeking legal redress, including stigma, high costs, and delays (Premium Times Nigeria, 2022). - Social norms, early marriage, and economic vulnerability
Harmful norms — including acceptance of coercive practices and the economic calculation that early marriage “protects” girls — continue to drive GBV in parts of northern Nigeria. Child marriage remains concentrated in certain northern states and is associated with increased risk of early sexual initiation, intimate partner violence, and curtailed education and economic opportunities (García, 2024).
Examples of positive results and promising practices
Despite the challenges, several developments offer reasons for cautious optimism. Coordinated GBVIMS reporting and protection cluster mapping have improved prioritization of resources. Integrated packages that combine cash assistance, protection case management, and community engagement have reduced immediate economic drivers of vulnerability in some pilot areas (GBV AoR Northeast Nigeria, 2025). Where community leaders, women’s groups, and youth activists are effectively engaged, reporting and referrals increase, demonstrating that local ownership and culturally smart programming matter.
What needs to happen next: priorities for northern Nigeria
- Scale survivor-centred, integrated services across underserved areas
2. Invest in long-term prevention and norm change
3. Strengthen justice pathways and accountability
4. Improve data systems and use data for planning
5. Prioritize children and conflict-affected survivors
Conclusion: mobilizing for scale and sustainability
Northern Nigeria has seen important improvements in coordination, reporting, and service design for GBV, and actors on the ground have demonstrated that integrated, survivor-centred packages work when delivered with community engagement. Yet the scale of need — driven by persistent conflict, poverty, and entrenched norms — far outstrips current capacities. To close that gap requires political will, predictable multi-year funding, stronger enforcement of protective laws, and deeper community partnerships.
References
GBV Area of Responsibility (AoR) Northeast Nigeria. (2025). GBV AoR annual report 2024. ReliefWeb. https://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/northeast-nigeria-gbv-aor-annual-report-2024
García, L. (2024, March 8). Child marriage in Nigeria: A tradition that destroys lives. El País. https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-03-08/child-marriage-in-nigeria-a-tradition-that-destroys-lives.html
Global Protection Cluster Nigeria. (2024). Protection monitoring report Q4 2024. https://www.globalprotectioncluster.org/_assets/files/field_protection_clusters/Nigeria/files/Protection_Monitoring_Q4_2024.pdf
National Population Commission (NPC) [Nigeria] & ICF. (2019). Nigeria demographic and health survey 2018. Abuja, Nigeria and Rockville, Maryland, USA: NPC and ICF. https://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR359/FR359.pdf
Premium Times Nigeria. (2022, December 15). VAPP Act: 34 Nigerian states, FCT now have laws against gender-based violence. https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/571248-vapp-act-34-nigerian-states-fct-now-have-laws-against-gender-based-violence.html
Protection Sector North-East Nigeria (PSNE). (2025). 2024 annual report: GBV sub-sector dashboard. Global Protection Cluster. https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/en/operations/nigeria/document/psne-2024-annual-report-gbv-dashboard
ReliefWeb. (2025). Nigeria humanitarian response plan 2025: Funding status (GBV sub-sector). https://reliefweb.int/report/nigeria/nigeria-humanitarian-response-plan-2025
UN Women Africa. (2023). Rapid gender analysis: North-East Nigeria humanitarian crisis. https://africa.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2023/06/rapid-gender-analysis-northeast-nigeria