At least 275 cases of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) have been recorded in Cross River State between January and November 2023. Besides rape, other cases of GBV recorded comprise emotional abuse, physical abuse and incest, with several incidents leading to body impairment, as well as mental imbalance, including loss of lives.

The Executive Director, Neighbourhood Care Well Foundation, Victoria Emah Emah, disclosed this in Calabar during a training workshop for journalists on GBV. She lamented that a number of these cases go unreported both in the media and to security agencies, paving the way for more abuses.

Emmah decried the high rate of incest going on in Akamkpa and Bakassi local councils, stressing that the situation is worrisome. On how her organisation came up with the figures, she said they work with trained whistle-blowers, law enforcement agencies and traditional heads who report the cases to them.
She called for psychiatric tests on some parents, because the rate at which parents abuse their children is alarming.

She added that with the assistance of Global Aide Canada, victims of gender abuse are given medical treatment, food and accommodation for upkeep, as well as to keep them away from their abusers.