The rape of daughters by their fathers continues to thrive because stigma, discrimination and a culture of silence discourage many survivors from speaking out, the Initiative to Resist Institutional Slavery/Exploitation (IRISE) has said.

Executive Director of IRISE and Country Coordinator of One Billion Rising, Omodele Ebitoye Ejeh, described incest and paedophilia as an “industry”, saying perpetrators often exploit victims’ fear that they would not be believed.

Ejeh spoke in Lagos during a two-day media roundtable organised to review the February 2026 training on Rights-based and Evidence-driven Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) reporting.

She condemned sexual abuse within families and called for severe punishment for perpetrators of incest, irrespective of their circumstances.

According to her, the continued silence around incest has created an environment in which perpetrators feel protected while survivors are left to contend with stigma and discrimination.

“I think because society keeps or silences survivors and sweeps these cases under the carpet, it continues to happen,” she said.

Ejeh added: “I call it ‘industry’. This paedophilia and incest thrive because the penetrators will tell you that nobody will believe you. That alone can kill your morale; that alone can make you not even talk about it and actually die in silence.

“So, the culture of silence, the culture of stigma, the culture of discrimination against survivors — these are issues survivors face in this regard.”

She urged journalists to make greater use of credible data when reporting sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence, stressing that the media had a critical role in shaping public understanding of sensitive issues.

“We, at IRISE, understand the important role that the media plays in shaping society. So, we understand the importance of training and partnering with media personnel to look at how data for reporting is sourced and how it has shaped what you do for the public to see,” she said.

Ejeh described journalists as “prophets” who shape narratives and influence how members of the public understand issues affecting their lives.

She said the roundtable was also designed to assess how journalists had applied knowledge gained from the earlier training and identify challenges they faced while reporting SRHR and gender-based violence.

Ejeh said IRISE was ready to deepen its partnership with journalists and support them in producing more accurate and responsible reports.

She, however, expressed concern over the growing influence of non-professionals in the media space, particularly on social media, urging journalists to strengthen their presence online and provide credible alternatives to misinformation.

“Our expectations are stronger partnership with media personnel. We know that they are working very hard to put out messages, but we want to see improved materials on the media space.

“We want to see professionals actually shaping the media space because of the contents that we see on social media because everybody is now a blogger.

“So, we actually want to see a media that is more visible on the social media space rather than looking at bloggers causing blunders,” she said.

Ejeh also recalled a study by IRISE on media coverage of sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence, saying the organisation found instances where inappropriate visuals undermined otherwise accurate reports.

She cited a report on contraceptives that was illustrated with a photograph of a heavily pregnant woman.

“There was this report on contraceptives, not even abortion. The report was accurate, but the picture used to illustrate the story was stigmatising,” she said.

According to her, the image sent a contradictory message because the story was about preventing unintended pregnancies, while the accompanying photograph showed a visibly pregnant woman.

“I think those visuals contradict the reports. So, you are telling women to do contraceptives to prevent unintended pregnancies, but you have a heavily pregnant person in the picture.

“So ordinarily, a layman could look at it and say, ‘Are you telling me to take these drugs to prevent this pregnancy?’ So, it sent a very negative message out there,” Ejeh said.