Police strategic intervention and mitigation of intimate partner violence in selected Local Government Areas of Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

Violence within intimate relationships until the 20th century was viewed as a private affair until it gained recognition a social and public health problem that has necessitated agencies' intervention within the Criminal Justice System (CJS) for preventive, control and adjudication of justice. The intervention of law enforcement however has led to the criminalization of intimate partner violence (IPV), with the police as the first point of contact for victims of IPV in the CJS. The study sought to interrogate the available strategies within the police force in addressing IPV. In-depth interview from eight police officers and State officials in four local government areas of Lagos State, were analyzed using content analytic procedures. Respondents were purposively selected as they were all within the LGAs with the highest IPV reportage. The paper identified strategies such as referrals, mediation, issuance of protective orders etc. The study concluded that most of the strategies adopted by the police adequately addressed the menace of IPV, however there is the need to ensure law enforcement officials are properly trained alongside religious and community leaders who sometimes serve as the first point of contact for survivors of IPV. This study has extended the frontiers of knowledge on the role and administration of the criminal justice system in handling cases of intimate partner violence in Lagos state by providing a scientific and empirical analysis of the strategies employed by the government through the police.

Keywords: Police, Intimate Partner Violence, Intervention, Mitigation, Nigeria I