If you are in immediate danger, get to a safe place and call the emergency services.
Domestic and sexual violence happen in every part of Lagos, to people of every background. Help is available, it is free, and you do not have to report to the police to get it.
The Lagos agency
Lagos State has a dedicated agency, the Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency, which takes reports, supports survivors through the process, and works with the police, the courts and shelters. You can contact it directly; its details are on the Lagos State Government’s website.
After a sexual assault
The Mirabel Centre, at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital in Ikeja, is a sexual assault referral centre. It offers medical care, counselling and help with evidence, free.
Go as soon as you can, ideally within days: some treatment, and some evidence, depends on time. Try not to wash or change clothes first if you might want to report, but go even if you already have.
The law
Lagos has its own law against domestic violence, the Protection Against Domestic Violence Law, which covers physical, sexual, emotional and economic abuse, and lets a court make protection orders. The federal Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act 2015 applies in the states that have adopted it.
Staying safe
- Tell someone you trust what is happening.
- Keep copies of important documents — ID, birth certificates, bank details — somewhere the abuser cannot reach.
- Plan where you would go in an emergency, and how.
- Keep evidence: photographs of injuries, messages, medical records.
Helping someone else
Listen, believe them, and let them decide what happens next. Offer to go with them to the agency or the Mirabel Centre.