People assume Nigerian law is one thing. For domestic abuse it is not, and the difference is not academic — it decides what you can ask a court for, which court you go to, and how quickly anything happens…
The Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act, usually shortened to the VAPP Act, was passed in 2015. It is the single most important piece of Nigerian law for anyone experiencing domestic abuse, and it is widely misunderstood in both directions…
A woman reports an assault. Within days there is a complaint against her: she stole from the house, she abducted the children, she is unfaithful, she is mentally unwell, she is the violent one. This happens often enough that…
Reporting is a decision, not an obligation, and it is yours to make. This article describes what tends to happen so that you can decide with your eyes open rather than discovering it at the counter. Before you go…
There is a widespread belief that on divorce everything is divided equally. That is the position in some countries. It is not the general position in Nigeria, and women who assume it are frequently shocked. The realistic picture is…
The belief that a lawyer is unaffordable stops more women than the actual cost does. Some of the best routes are free, several are cheap, and knowing which is which is most of the problem. A second point worth…
A protection order is a court order telling somebody to stop. It is one of the very few tools that changes a man's behaviour by changing his risk, rather than by asking him to be different. It can require…
Abuse abroad carries an extra layer that is hard to explain to anyone who has not lived it. You may be thousands of miles from family, unsure of your rights, dependent on his immigration status, and genuinely afraid that…
Fear of losing the children keeps more women in violent marriages than almost anything else. In most cases that fear is based on something a husband has said rather than on anything a court would decide. He is not…
Women arrive at lawyers and police stations with a great deal that happened and very little that can be shown. That is not a failure on their part — nobody documents a marriage while living in it — but…
