The police have been urged to stop treating domestic violence cases as family issues, but as potential murder cases.

The Director of Project Alert, Mrs. Josephine Effuah-Chukwuma, made the call during a sensitisation workshop on Lagos State Domestic Violence Prohibition Law organised in conjunction with Rise Up at the Ikeja Police Officers Mess.

While addressing police officers at the event, Effuah-Chukwuma stated, “We all know that a law is useless if it is not put into use. We have an epidemic on our hands which are a twin case of domestic violence and sexual abuse. On the issue of sexual abuse, 99% of sexual predators are the people close to us, and not strangers”.

According to her, every case of domestic violence reported to the police should be treated as a likely murder case.

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“The police in Lagos have come a long way when it comes to domestic violence. But more still needs to be done. The police need to know which bodies to refer cases to as they come instead of waiting till it becomes a murder case before taking action”.