As the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence progresses, a Nigerian child-rights advocate says the same forces that silence abused children are also preventing women, especially mothers, from seeking justice.
Muhammad Sabo-Keana, the Executive Director of the Advancing Children’s Rights Initiative, told me that violence against women and violence against children “are not separate problems but rooted in the same culture of silence and shame.”
He said families often pressure women to hide abuse “so they don’t bring embarrassment to the family,” a pattern mirrored in cases involving girls.
According to him, both women and girls face blame, disbelief, and community efforts to bury cases to “protect the family name.”
“The same belief system is applied to different ages,” he said.
“Women are threatened or shamed into silence, and young girls are blamed when they’re abused. It’s the same culture.”
Sabo-Keana opined that a weak law-enforcement response reinforces that silence.
He noted that police sometimes dismiss domestic violence or sexual assault complaints with rhetoric like telling a woman to “go back to the man’s house,” while failing to gather evidence or secure witnesses.
Families also frequently pressure women to withdraw cases, making accountability elusive.
Sabo-Keana said progress will require strengthening institutions and ending practices that shield abusers.
He is calling for more family courts because they are “either too few or nonexistent” in many states, leaving cases delayed or abandoned.
He also wants special sexual-offenses units within police and justice ministries to ensure proper investigations, trauma-informed interviews, and better evidence collection.
Another key step, he said, is criminalizing out-of-court family settlements, which he argues allow abusers to escape accountability and deny survivors closure.
“Silencing women only protects abusers,” he said. “Justice is the only path to healing.”
