Gender-based violence, GBV, remains a persistent public health and human rights challenge globally.
Nigeria is not exempt. And as a sub-national entity within Nigeria, Abia State continues to bear a significant burden, particularly in urban and peri-urban commercial hubs such as Aba, Obingwa, Umuahia, and Ohafia where high population density, poverty and weak reporting mechanisms, continue to increase vulnerability.
The Scale of the Problem
National data provides context for the state-level burden.
According to the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, NDHS 2018, 1 in 3 women aged 15–49 have experienced physical violence and 1 in 10 have experienced sexual violence.
1. For children, the 2014 Violence Against Children Survey found that 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 5 boys experienced sexual violence before age 18.
2. While Abia-specific disaggregated data remains limited, records from health facilities, legal aid providers, and civil society organisations in the state indicate that rape, defilement of minors, intimate partner violence, and human trafficking are the most frequently reported cases. The case is for a bottom-up data generation model that emphasises even the minutest of grassroots details which presents raw facts as data rather than rely on some early guesses, fixed rule or generalised standard.
Multi-dimensional Manifestations of GBV 1. Sexual violence: including assault, whether verbal or physical, rape and defilement, with minors disproportionately affected due to power imbalances and caregiver dependence. 2. Trafficking in persons: particularly of young persons and young women for domestic servitude and exploitative labour within the state and across state borders.
3. Intimate partner and domestic violence: occurring in households and in employer–employee relationships involving domestic workers, especially in the informal sector.Collectively, these undermine health outcomes, human rights, educational attainment, economic productivity, and social cohesion. Survivors frequently encounter stigma, secondary victimisation and fragmented services across health, justice and social welfare sectors while living with trauma.
The SARC Model within the South East-Geopolitical Zone Context
Since 2011, Nigeria has institutionalised Sexual Assault Referral Centres, SARCs, as a survivor-centred and multi-sectoral response model.
Lagos State pioneered this initiative in Nigeria with the Mirabel Centre at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital. By co-locating medical care, forensic evidence collection, psychosocial support, and legal referral in one facility, the model improves access, preserves evidence and reduces attrition from the processes of justice.
The model is being replicated across states to address three critical gaps: delayed care; poor evidence management; and weak referral coordination.
In the South-East, Enugu led with the Tamar SARC in March 2014, established by Women Aid Collective, WACOL, with support from the UK’s Department for International Development, DFID.
The name ‘Tamar’ itself references the biblical daughter of King David in 2 Samuel 13 who was a victim of sexual violence.
The Ntasi SARC in Enugu-Ukwu, Anambra State, followed in 2019. Imo State later established Deborah House in 2022. Ebonyi State, Meanwhile, operates the Nduru Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Centre.
By this sequence, Abia was the last state in the zone to establish a dedicated SARC.
The Abia Response: The Nchedo Centre and the 2026 Law. This shift significantly occurred on 3rd March 2026, the Abia State House of Assembly enacted the Abia State Centre for the Rehabilitation of Survivors of Rape, Defilement, Domestic Violence and All Forms of Human Trafficking Law, 2026.
The 25-Section, 6-Part law mandates a coordinated, survivor-centred response to sexual violence, rape, defilement, domestic violence and human trafficking.
Under the law, the Nchedo Centre was established in 2026 with support from the EU-funded Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption Programme, RoLAC.
The Centre, which is now located at the General Hospital in Aba provides: – Emergency medical care and post-exposure prophylaxis – Forensic services and evidence preservation – Safe shelter and case management – Psychosocial support for trauma healing and counselling – Legal advice and referral pathways.
It also formalises referral linkages with the Nigerian Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Agencies, the Judiciary, the Abia State Ministry of Justice, Civil Society Organisations and other relevant stakeholders.
The law further provides for a sexual offenders’ register and other centralised database systems to support accountability and provide context for state-level research coordination.
The establishment of Nchedo aligns Abia with regional peers and also with the Violence Against Persons Prohibition, VAPP, Law and the Child Rights Law already domesticated in the state. It marks a transition from fragmented interventions to an integrated, referral-based system focused on timely care, evidence preservation, access to justice and survivor restoration.
Role of the Civil Society in Operation
We commend the African Centre for Human Advancement and Resource Support, CHARS-Africa, a human rights organisation based in Abia, which with support from Urgent Action Fund-Africa is driving the process.
CHARS-Africa in implementing the project: ‘Strengthening the Operationalisation of the Abia State Centre for the Rehabilitation of Survivors of Rape, Defilement, Domestic Violence and All Forms of Human Trafficking Law, 2026’, is taking the lead in sensitizing communities on the law, reviewing the law and the calling for subsequent reform and amendment to make for impactful implementation.
Call to Action
Civil Society Organisations have a critical role to play in ensuring that the Abia State Rehabilitation Law 2026 moves from legislation to practical protection, justice and rehabilitation for survivors.
This is because effective implementation requires sustained collaboration, monitoring and advocacy. Let us work collectively to ensure that every survivor – regardless of age, gender, disability, location or social status – can access protection, justice and reintegration with dignity.
Civil Society must monitor implementation, amplify survivors’ voices, strengthen referral systems, advocate for reform where required and hold duty bearers accountable.
The Law must not remain a document; it must become a functioning system of hope for survivors.
Cassius C. B-U is the Co-convener Abia State Civil Society Network (ACSON )
