Adewale Sanyaolu
Efforts to address the high rate of child abuse may have received the desired boost as a Nigerian-based non-governmental organisation, Project Alert Violence Against Women, recently kicked off a campaign to raise awareness on the effects of domestic violence on young children.
Tagged: ‘Break the Cycle’, the campaign, which aims to advocate zero tolerance for domestic violence, especially as its harmful effects rubs off on children, is releasing a series of poignant videos which take a deeper look into the realities of children from domestic violent homes in Nigeria.
A statement by the Executive Director, Project Alert Violence Against Women, Josephine Effah Chukwuma, maintained that while there are statistics on women facing domestic violence, an often overlooked issue is the effect of domestic violence on the children who are first hand witnesses of the abuse.
“Reliable data on violence against children in Nigeria is scarce because violence is often regarded as ‘normal’ such as within the family circle,” UNICEF said.
In May 2018, the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team condemned the increasingly alarming rates of domestic violence in the state.
“Domestic violence has a huge impact on children who live in such toxic environment. The environment is tense, unpredictable and often dominated by the fear of what would happen to themselves, their mother and siblings. Children who live in such homes suffer physical, psychological and emotional trauma,” Chukwuma said.