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. Some people believe it fixed everything. Others believe it is meaningless because enforcement is poor.
Neither is right. This is what it says, what it can get you, and where it genuinely falls short, in language that does not assume a law degree.
What it covers
The Act prohibits a wide range of harm, and the breadth is the most important thing about it. It is not a law about beatings.
It names physical injury, sexual violence including within marriage, psychological and emotional abuse, economic abuse, harmful traditional practices, forced isolation, depriving a person of their liberty, and damage to property as a means of intimidation.
The point worth holding onto is that the law does not require a bruise. Being cut off from money, being forbidden from working, being threatened, and being isolated from your own family are named in the statute. If you have been told that nothing can be done because he has never hit you, that is wrong, and it is wrong as a matter of the written law rather than as a matter of opinion.
Economic abuse and psychological abuse are dealt with in detail separately, because they are the two that women most often do not realise are covered.
Where it applies
This is the part that causes the most confusion, and it is worth understanding properly because it determines what is available to you.
The VAPP Act was passed as federal law. Criminal law in Nigeria is largely a state matter, so the Act applies directly in the Federal Capital Territory, and each state must adopt its own version for it to apply within that state.
Most states have now done so. The practical consequence is that the protection available to you depends partly on where you are, and that two women in different states can have meaningfully different options for the same facts.
Lagos additionally has its own Protection Against Domestic Violence Law, which predates the VAPP Act and does much of the same work. If you are in Lagos, that law is often the more practical route and local lawyers will know it well.
A lawyer or an organisation working in your state can tell you which law applies and what it offers. That is one of the things we help with, and it is worth asking rather than assuming.
Protection orders
The Act allows a court to make a protection order. In plain terms this is an order telling a person to stop doing something, backed by the court’s authority.
It can require him to stop assaulting, threatening or harassing you. It can require him to stay away from your home, your workplace, your children’s school or any other named place. In some circumstances it can require him to leave the family home even where the property is his.
The most useful feature is what happens when it is broken. Breaching a protection order is itself an offence, which means the police can act on the breach without having to prove the original abuse all over again. For many women that is the difference between a complaint that goes nowhere and one that produces a response.
How to apply, what a court will want, and what it costs is set out separately.
Who can apply
You can apply yourself. Somebody else can also apply on your behalf with your consent, which matters a great deal if you are too frightened, too unwell or too closely watched to attend court.
That can be a relative, a social worker, a police officer, or an organisation supporting you. It is one of the more practical provisions in the Act and it is not widely known.
What the Act does not do
It does not end your marriage. A protection order is not a divorce and has no effect on the status of your marriage. Many women use one precisely so that they can stay in the home safely, or stay while they decide what they want. If you are thinking about ending the marriage, that is a separate process with different requirements.
It does not act on its own. Somebody has to apply, and the application needs somebody who knows the local court. This is the single largest gap between what the law promises and what women actually receive.
It does not guarantee that a police station will act. Some officers still treat this as a family matter to be settled at home, notwithstanding that the conduct is a criminal offence. What to do when you meet that response is worth knowing before you go.
Sexual violence within marriage
The Act addresses sexual violence without carving out an exemption for spouses. That was a significant change from the older criminal codes, several of which expressly excluded a husband from the offence.
How a particular state adopted the Act, and how a particular court approaches such a case, varies. We deal with this separately, including what is time critical medically and why a record made on the day matters so much.
NAPTIP
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons administers the VAPP Act in the Federal Capital Territory and receives reports of violence against persons. If you are in Abuja, NAPTIP is a route worth knowing about and is often more responsive than a general police station.
Being realistic about it
Nigerian law on domestic abuse is considerably better than it was ten years ago. The written protection is broad, it covers non physical abuse, and it provides a remedy that does not require you to end your marriage.
Enforcement is uneven. Some police stations still refuse to open a file. Some courts sit slowly. Legal representation costs money that most women in this position do not control, which is itself usually a symptom of the abuse.
None of that makes the law useless. What it means is that outcomes depend heavily on having somebody beside you who has done it before. Women who go through this alone are turned away more often than women who arrive with a support worker or a lawyer, and that difference is larger than any other factor we see.
What to do with this
If you take three things from this article, take these. The law covers far more than violence. You do not have to leave your marriage to use it. And the single most useful step is finding one person who has been through the local court before, which is what we can help with.
Questions people ask
Does the VAPP Act apply in my state?
Most states have adopted a version of it. Which one applies to you, and what it offers, depends on where you live. Contact us and we will help you find a lawyer or an organisation working in your state.
Can I use it without leaving my marriage?
Yes. A protection order is not a divorce and does not end a marriage. Women use them to make staying safer as well as to make leaving safer.
Is rape within marriage covered?
The Act addresses sexual violence without exempting spouses, which changed the position under older law. How a specific state adopted it can affect this, so take advice locally.
Does it cover abuse that is not physical?
Yes. Psychological, emotional and economic abuse are all named, alongside forced isolation and depriving someone of their liberty.
Can somebody apply on my behalf?
Yes, with your consent. A relative, a social worker, a police officer or a supporting organisation can make the application if you cannot.
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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