The issue of Kano state having to depend on only one Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) to serve survivors of sexual and gender-based violence across its 44 local government areas, was what took a centre stage at the Kano Gender Justice Summit 2025.
The summit was organized by the Lift Africa Foundation as part of activities marking Nigeria’s16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence as set aside my the United Nations.
Founder of Lift Africa Foundation, Barrister Aisha Hamma, described the shortfall in survivor support services as both a legal and human failure, noting that delays in accessing care and justice deepen trauma and silence victims.
“Kano is home to more than 15 to 16 million people, yet the entire state relies on one Sexual Assault Referral Centre. One centre for 44 local government areas we all know isn’t ideal,” she said.
Hamma recalled that Nigeria enacted the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act (VAPP) in 2015 to criminalise rape, domestic violence, emotional abuse and other harmful practices, but noted that ten years later Kano is yet to fully domesticate the law.
According to her, the absence of a comprehensive legal framework, combined with the limited number of referral centres, has weakened coordination, constrained resources for survivors and slowed the prosecution of offenders in what she described as one of Nigeria’s gender-based violence hotspots.
According to her, Lift Africa Foundation has supported the return of over 3,000 children to school, empowered more than 5,000 women through livelihood interventions, and facilitated justice processes that resulted in 32 convictions in Kano and 86 across northern states.
Hamma urged the Kano State House of Assembly to prioritise the bill, expansion of the Sexual Assault Referral Centres across Kano’s emirate councils, strengthen prosecution mechanisms and address emerging challenges such as digital and technology-facilitated abuse.
Also speaking at the summit, the Commander-General of the Kano State Hisbah Board, Sheikh Aminu Daurawa, represented by Malam Gaddafi Mujiburrahmah, said Islam strictly prohibits all forms of violence and injustice against human beings.
He disclosed that within just one week, the Hisbah Board received 49 matrimonial disputes and 39 civil cases requiring mediation, alongside cases involving counselling, pregnancy-related issues and drug abuse.
However, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, represented by the Director-General of the Kano State Social Protection Agency (KASEPA), Fatima Amneef, reaffirmed the state government’s readiness to collaborate with civil society organisations to strengthen protection and justice systems across the state.
