Reporting on this subject does real good. It is how the law gets scrutinised, how services get held to account, and how a woman reading a newspaper works out that what is happening in her house has a name.
It also, done carelessly, gets people hurt. This is what we can help with, what we will not do, and the specific things that cause harm.
What we will help with
The pattern, the law, the gaps in provision, what actually happens at a police station, what a protection order does, why women return, and what the practical obstacles are. At length, on the record, with somebody who works on it.
We will also tell you plainly where we think the sector is failing, including us, and we will tell you what we do not know rather than filling it in.
What we will not do
We will not introduce you to a woman for an interview. Not with her permission, not anonymously, not with details changed, and not for a documentary.
The reasoning is set out in full and it is not squeamishness. Consent obtained by an organisation somebody depends on is not freely given, it cannot be withdrawn once something is published, and the reader who matters is the man she left, who knows the town, the children, the month and the injury. Details that make a story anonymous to your readers do not make it anonymous to him.
If a woman approaches you independently, that is between the two of you and it is her right. What we will not do is find her for you or benefit from it.
The details that endanger people
These are the ones that come up repeatedly, and most are published without anybody intending harm.
- Any location. The street, the estate, the market, the church, the school, the name of a shelter, or a photograph in which any of those is visible in the background.
- The combination. Age, number of children, occupation, state of origin and the month she left will identify one woman precisely, even with no name at all.
- Employers and schools. Naming either gives somebody a place to wait.
- Photographs with identifiable surroundings, including where a face is obscured. A gate, a signboard or a distinctive wall is enough.
- Court details that were not necessary. Case numbers and hearing dates give somebody a place and a time.
- How she was helped. Describing the specific route somebody used to get out closes that route for the next person.
- Method detail in a killing. It serves no reporting purpose and it is imitated.
Framing that does damage
“Crime of passion”, “domestic dispute”, “tragedy”, “snapped”. These describe a sudden loss of control. Almost all of this is a pattern rather than an episode, and the language tells readers it is an accident that befell a couple rather than something one person did to another repeatedly.
Explaining a man’s violence by his circumstances. Money worries, unemployment, provocation, drink. Millions of people are under the same pressure and do not hurt the person they live with. Alcohol in particular is the most common false explanation.
“Why did she not leave?” It puts the question to the wrong person. If the piece needs that question at all, the accurate version is why he did it and why nothing stopped him.
Character evidence about the victim. What she was wearing, whether she was faithful, whether she was difficult, whether she drank. It is used at trial and it should not be used in copy.
Sympathetic detail about the perpetrator — that he was a devoted father, that neighbours were shocked, that he was well liked. Often true, and it belongs nowhere near the top, because it is the standard picture rather than a mitigating one.
Treating it as private. A phrase like “a matter between husband and wife” is doing work, and the work is telling every reader in that situation that nothing can be done.
Things that make coverage better
- Name the pattern. Where there were previous incidents, reports, or an order in place, say so. It is the difference between an incident and a failure.
- Ask what the system did. Was it reported. What happened to the complaint. Was there an order and was it enforced. That is where the accountability journalism actually is.
- Get the law right. What the VAPP Act says, and the fact that it applies in a state only if that state adopted it, is the most commonly misreported thing in this area.
- Include help information. Even one line. Coverage produces calls to services, and a piece without it wastes that.
- Cover what works. Not only killings. A protection order that was enforced, a woman who got a job, an employer who did something sensible — these are underreported and they are what changes what readers believe is possible.
If you are interviewing somebody who has been through it
Assuming you found her yourself.
Tell her exactly where it will appear and that it cannot be removed from the internet afterwards. Let her read the parts about her before publication, which is a small concession and the single best protection. Ask her what she does not want printed and keep to it. Do not interview her in front of anybody. Do not use a real photograph of her home. Do not contact him for a response without telling her first, because that is the moment of danger and it is a call that has got people killed.
Do not interview children. Do not accept a parent’s consent as sufficient for a child.
And be aware that being interviewed is frequently harder than people expect, and that she may want to withdraw afterwards. Agree in advance what happens if she does.
Reporting a killing
Say that it appears to have been a killing rather than a tragedy. Avoid method detail. Do not publish images of the scene or of the body. Do not describe the perpetrator’s feelings as though they explain it.
Where there are surviving children, they will read the coverage in a few years. That is worth holding in mind for every sentence, and it changes the tone more usefully than any guideline.
Contacting us
Ask for the work, the law, the pattern and the failures. We will give you as much time as you want on any of it, and we will tell you where our own figures are missing rather than estimating them.
Ask us for a woman to interview and the answer will be no, and it will still be no if you have a deadline.
Questions people ask
Will you put me in touch with a survivor?
No. Not with her permission, not anonymously, and not with details changed. Consent given to an organisation somebody depends on is not freely given, and publication cannot be undone.
What single detail is most likely to cause harm?
Location, in any form, including in the background of a photograph. After that, the combination of age, number of children, occupation and the month she left, which identifies one woman precisely without any name.
What is wrong with "crime of passion"?
It describes a sudden loss of control, when almost all of this is a pattern. The framing tells readers something befell a couple rather than that one person did something to another repeatedly.
Should I contact the perpetrator for a response?
If you do, tell her first. That call is the moment of danger, and journalists have made it without warning and got people badly hurt.
What would you most like to see reported?
What the system did. Whether there were earlier reports, what happened to them, whether an order existed and whether it was enforced. That is where the accountability is, and it is almost never covered.
If you need help now
If you are in immediate danger, call 112. To talk to HealBridge, call or send a message to +2348025170267, or use the form on our contact page. Every page on this site has a Quick Exit button at the top right, and pressing the letter E three times does the same thing.
Before you rely on anything on this page
We publish these articles so that you can understand a subject and work out what to ask for. They are written carefully and in good faith. They are still general information about how things usually work, and not advice about your situation, which we do not know.
- This is not legal advice.
- We are not a law firm. Criminal law in Nigeria is largely a state matter, the VAPP Act applies in a state only if that state adopted it, and statutory, customary and Islamic marriages are governed by different law and different courts. Two people with the same facts can have genuinely different options. Get advice from a lawyer who practises where you live — and if cost is the obstacle, ask us, because arranging that is part of what we do.
- This is not medical advice.
- Nothing here is a diagnosis and nothing here replaces being examined. Do not delay seeing a doctor, nurse or pharmacist because of something you read here, and do not start, stop or change any treatment on the strength of it. If something is time critical, go and be seen.
- This is not counselling, and it is not financial advice.
- Articles about trauma, sleep, money, debt, renting or starting a business describe what commonly helps. They are not therapy and they are not a recommendation about your own money. Speak to a counsellor, a qualified adviser or your own bank about your circumstances.
- It may be out of date, or wrong for where you are.
- Law changes, services close, numbers stop answering and practice varies by state. We correct what we find, and we cannot promise that every page is current on the day you read it. Where we do not have something confirmed, we say so rather than fill the gap.
- Reading this does not make us your lawyer or your doctor.
- No professional relationship is created by reading an article, and we cannot accept liability for decisions taken on the strength of one. What we can do is help you reach somebody who is qualified to advise you, which is what the legal and health parts of our work exist for.
- We cannot promise an outcome, and we cannot make anybody safe.
- A protection order is a piece of paper backed by an enforcement system that is inconsistent. A plan works until the day it does not. Anybody in this field promising safety is selling something, and the promise itself is dangerous because it stops people planning.
Do not let this notice stop you acting. If you are in immediate danger, call 112. If something is medically urgent, go to a hospital — you do not need a police report to be treated. And if you do not know where to start, that is a normal way to begin: use the contact page and we will take it from there.
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