Why Lagos husbands increasingly fall victim to wife’s violence

The Lagos State Government has said 89 men reported that they were battered by their wives in cases of domestic violence between 2020 and the first quarter of 2021.

In 2020, no fewer than 46 men reported being pasted by their wives in Lagos, compared to 43 that reported in just the first quarter of 2021.

Reasons the traditional victims now turn on their violators are debatable. Some believe the rise in feminism might be bolstering up the women; others think poverty is largely the culprit in any kind of domestic violence.

According to the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation (WAPA), Cecilia Bolaji Dada, on Tuesday, the figures might be higher, considering cases only reported at police stations, and those not reported at all. Neither is captured by the ministry.

At the news conference to mark the second year of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in office, held in Ikeja, Lagos, Dada highlighted domestic violence against women too.

She said a total of 664 women were battered by their husbands in Lagos in the past year, according to cases reported at WAPA.

In the breakdown, 378 women were violated by their husbands in 2020, while 286 women were battered by their husbands in the first quarter of 2021.

Because the government believes poverty is largely responsible for the violence, Gov Sanwo-Olu has put in place empowerment projects to help alleviate poverty.

No fewer than 500 women on entrepreneurial and digital marketing techniques will be trained in June 2021.

This will be an addition  to the 5,780 participants were already incorporated into our Mega Empowerment.