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Summary
DOHS Cares Foundation and NILDS have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to advance femicide legislation in Nigeria. The partnership marks a major step toward legal reform, justice for victims, and national accountability for the killings of women and girls.
In a landmark move to address the gender-related killings of women and girls in Nigeria, the DOHS Cares for Vulnerable Women and Children Foundation and the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to advance legislative action against femicide.
Femicide, known as the intentional killing of women and girls due to their gender, is often committed by intimate partners, relatives, or acquaintances. It remains largely under-recognised in Nigeria’s legal system.
The MoU, signed on July 4, 2025, marks a significant step toward establishing a legal framework to prevent femicide, ensure justice for victims, and promote accountability for perpetrators.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Professor Abubakar O. Sulaiman, Director General of NILDS, reaffirmed the Institute’s commitment to promoting the rule of law and preventing violence against women and girls.
Also speaking, Ms Ololade Ajayi, Founder of DOHS Cares, described the agreement as “a historic step towards protection for Nigerian women whose lives are being taken with impunity.”
She emphasised that the lack of specific legal provisions on femicide has left countless victims unprotected and perpetrators unpunished. DOHS had earlier submitted a proposed Femicide Bill to the National Assembly in April 2024.
Under the new agreement, DOHS Cares and NILDS will immediately begin scrutinising and analysing the draft Femicide Bill. The revised version will incorporate expert recommendations, stakeholder inputs, and global best practices.
A multi-stakeholder validation workshop will be convened, bringing civil society organisations (CSOs), legal experts, gender justice advocates, and survivors’ groups to review and validate the bill. Once this is completed, the partners will begin strategic engagement with legislators to facilitate the bill’s presentation at the National Assembly.
DOHS Cares Foundation remains at the forefront of the fight to end femicide in Nigeria. Between January and June 2025, data from the DOHS Femicide Research Hub recorded at least 88 Nigerian women and girls killed by men, equating to one woman killed every 49 hours.
In response, DOHS has committed to a national movement for justice, combining real-time data tracking with institutional advocacy and legal reform.
With this partnership, both organisations signal a bold shift from awareness to action, working to ensure that Nigerian law recognises femicide and that perpetrators are held fully accountable.
