Nearly one in every two female students in Nigeria experiences some form of gender based violence during their school years, a trend fueling dropouts, inflicting lasting trauma and denying thousands of children justice, stakeholders warned.

The figures emerged as the Nigerian government, the European Union and International IDEA launched a fresh initiative to strengthen justice pathways for children abused in schools and equip teachers, counsellors, police and administrators to identify, document and prosecute perpetrators.

The intervention falls under the EU supported program to End Sexual and Gender Based Violence in Nigeria, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Justice, the Federal Ministry of Education and UNESCO, and formed the focus of a three day workshop in Abuja.

Head of the SGBV Response Unit at the Ministry of Justice, Yewande Gbola-Awopetu, said the prevalence of gender based violence in educational settings stood at 42.3 per cent. She cited a 2025 study finding that 69.4 per cent of adolescents in South West Nigeria had experienced some form of sexual violence. “These are not just statistics. They are lives disrupted, futures threatened and opportunities denied,” she said.

She noted that girls account for 60 per cent of out of school children in Nigeria, with many abuse cases going unreported. International IDEA’s Melissa Omene said 18 per cent of sexual violence incidents occur in schools, while 25 per cent of children report corporal punishment by teachers.

Head of the Gender Unit at the Ministry of Education, Augustina Apakasa, urged participants to turn the training into action, while Protect the Child Foundation Executive Director Elizabeth Ebulejonu Achimugu described teachers as critical first responders, stressing that perpetrators must not escape punishment regardless of status.