Key Points
- Seven in 10 female students and three in 10 male students have experienced GBV on Nigerian campuses.
- Many survivors stay silent, fearing retaliation and distrusting institutions with no confidential reporting systems.
- Alliances for Africa is calling on vice chancellors to act, backed by a five-year national program to drive change.
The numbers are hard to sit with. Seven out of every 10 female students at Nigerian universities have experienced at least one form of gender-based violence on campus. So have three out of every 10 male students.
A National Campus Climate Baseline Survey on sexual harassment in Nigerian public tertiary institutions, conducted by Alliances for Africa in collaboration with the Centre for Gender Studies at Kaduna State University, revealed the findings as part of activities marking International Women’s Day 2026.
The survey covered 12 universities spanning all six geopolitical zones, split evenly between federal and state institutions.
What the data actually found
The survey showed that sexual misconduct, including unwanted touching, inappropriate comments, verbal abuse and stalking, was the most commonly reported form of harassment, affecting 42.2 percent of all respondents.
It does not stop with students. The findings also showed that 63 percent of female staff and 37 percent of male staff reported experiencing gender-based violence on campus.
Students are being coerced into sexual exchanges for academic grades and privileges, threatened for refusing advances, and in some cases transferring universities to escape harassment.
Many survivors do not report their experiences due to fear of retaliation, a lack of trust in institutional processes and the absence of accessible, confidential reporting channels.
Presenting the findings, Hauwa Evelyn Yusuf, a professor of criminology and gender studies at Kaduna State University, did not mince her words. “This data makes one thing undeniable: Nigeria’s universities are not safe, and that needs to change,” she said.
Institutions called to act
Alliances for Africa called on vice chancellors to act urgently, specifically to establish independent sexual harassment response units, publish and enforce institutional policies, create safe and confidential reporting mechanisms and mandate training for all staff.
The survey forms the foundation of a five-year program launched by Alliances for Africa in partnership with Co-Impact, running from January 2023 to December 2028, designed to address sexual harassment across Nigeria’s public tertiary institutions.
The data will serve as a baseline for tracking institutional and policy progress throughout the program’s lifespan.
One university sets a benchmark
At Lagos State University, acting director of the Center for Response and Prevention of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, Prof. Igot Ofem, pointed to the institution as a rare example of meaningful action.
The university has embedded gender-based violence information in its students’ handbook, operates a functional sexual abuse and GBV policy and now teaches GBV response and prevention as a compulsory course for 200-level students.
Vice Chancellor Prof. Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, in an address read on her behalf, framed it as a moral imperative.
“Justice goes beyond the law to providing an environment where survivors feel safe to speak and are taken seriously,” she said. “The rights of women and girls are not optional, not negotiable and not secondary.”
The question the report leaves hanging is whether other institutions will follow.
