Role of Public Relations in Promoting Gender Based Violence among Women in Ikorodu, Lagos State

Strategic communication has been used extensively in the global and national campaigns against gender-based violence (GBV), but this scourge is one of the worst human rights and public health emergencies in Nigeria today. GBV, which takes place on the physical, psychological, and economic forms, continuously jeopardizes the safety and human rights of women. In the case of Lagos State, the gravity of this emergency is shown by the fact that more than 24,000 GBV cases have been recorded in the period from 2019 to 2023 in the Ikorodu Local Government Area (LGA). Although public relations (PR) campaigns have extensively been used by both governmental and non-governmental bodies in addressing the issue, there is tremendous challenge when it comes to structural efficiency of these strategies in tackling violence in semi-urban, culturally conservative communities. In places such as Ikorodu, deeply seated patriarchal structures and gender power relations make violence an accepted practice that becomes a personal household issue rather than a criminal one. The basic issue that the study aims to address is the significant gap that exists between public awareness created through anti-GBV PR campaigns and reporting actions. From empirical findings in the Ikorodu community, the 'reporting gap' exists in that although about sixty percent of women in the community have knowledge about anti-GBV campaigns and above seventy percent witness and experience GBV, less than twenty-three percent of the women report these acts to the relevant authorities. The 'reporting gap' is sustained by socio-cultural inhibitors that include the fear of social stigma, religious and cultural pressures to maintain family pride, and lack of trust for state law enforcement authorities. Traditional, digitized, English-speaking, and alien PR practices are not effective tools for destroying barriers since they do not incorporate into the grass-root systems which regulate the lives of the people in Ikorodu. Concerning the issue of breaking down the communication barrier, the present research will be guided by the strong theoretical foundation including Gendered Power Relations Theory, which help to reveal the causes for silencing the women and the types of communication needed to liberate them.