Executive Secretary of Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency, DSVA, Mrs. Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi, has devoted her life to serving people and remaining a voice for the voiceless, not only as a public official but also in her personal capacity as the founder of the Lola Vivour-Adeniyi Foundation.
A lawyer, public administrator, and philanthropist, with over 15 years of experience serving the people of Lagos, Vivour-Adeniyi’s experience cuts across public policy, administration, as well as legal and social services and, in recognition of her stellar performance as the coordinator of the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team, on September 21, 2021, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, upon giving assent to the Bill for a Law establishing the Lagos State Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency, appoint her as pioneer Executive Secretary of the agency.
Recently, the agency opened ‘EKO HAVEN’, a shelter for survivors of domestic violence. This is part of the state government’s commitment in ensuring holistic support for survivors of SGBV.The shelter, located in Ikorodu, is a 30-bed space capacity to provide immediate shelter services to high-risk survivors of domestic violence.The shelter was the state government’s prompt response to the burgeoning demand to ensuring preservation of life, safety, stability, empowerment and subsequently the reintegration of survivors back into the society.
Vivour-Adeniyi said, “The establishment of Eko Haven is in keeping with the DSVA’s statutory mandate of establishing shelters across all Divisions of the State. With this intervention, it is our hope that survivors in abusive relationships would find the courage to break the culture of silence, speak up and speak out with the assurance that help is just a CALL away”.
Also, Vivour-Adeniyi, representing the Permanent Secretary in the state Ministry of Justice and Solicitor-General, Ms. Titilayo Shitta-Bey, at a media briefing as part of the activities to flag-off 2023 DSVA Awareness Month, themed, ‘Not in my Lagos’, usually marked every September, disclosed that at least 2,588 children were sexually and emotionally abused during various domestic violence recorded in the state between August 2022 and July 2023.
She added that 40 per cent of the children were taken through counseling programmes to ensure they are able to psychologically deal with the events they have witnessed without it having a permanent and negative impact on them.
“From August 1, 2022 to July 31, 2023, the agency has handled 5624 cases which are into two categories, adults and children”, she said.
“The agency now receives an average of 250 clients on a monthly basis. For adults- 91 per cent of survivors were female, 9 per cent were male, while for children- 45 per cent of survivors were boys, 55 per cent were girls”.
The survivors of sexual assault, according to her, received medical attention from comprehensive Primary Healthcare Centres, General Hospitals and Sexual Assault Referral Centres including Mirabel Centre, Women at Risk International Foundation, WARIF as well as Idera Centre.
“In the period under review, the agency provided services to seven Persons with Disabilities who were experiencing one form of Gender Based Violence or the other”, Vivour-Adeniyi stated.
“The youngest child that experienced sexual violence was an 18-month-old baby while the oldest client that experienced domestic violence was a 79-year-old woman”.
Another analysis of the data, according to the DSVA boss, revealed that there was a link between mental health issues and domestic violence, as 10 per cent of survivors noted that their abusers were diagnosed with mental health issues.
“The effects of Sexual and Gender Based Violence cannot be overemphasized as 90 per cent of the survivors disclosed that they have experienced low self esteem, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), extreme fear and anxiety, and about five per cent suffered from depression and had to seek medical help”, Vivour-Adeniyi said.
“Some of the men and women that experienced domestic violence disclosed that they lost their means of livelihood as a result of the abuse.
“The agency has secured 21 restraining orders, granted by the courts pursuant to the Protection Against Domestic Violence Law, 2015 against abusive spouses. “Furthermore, Lagos State Government through the Directorate of Public Prosecutions secured at least 120 judgments during the period under review”.
According to her, about 60 per cent of alleged perpetrators abuse alcohol and as such increased the risk of perpetrating domestic violence.
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