PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
March 8, 2026.
On this year’s International Women’s Day, Alliances for Africa (AfA) launches the findings of its baseline survey on sexual harassment in Nigerian public tertiary institutions. The report documents a systemic crisis that has persisted under institutional silence for a long time.
The survey, conducted across six state and six federal public universities, covering the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria, shows the most comprehensive empirical evidence on the nature and scale of gender-based violence (GBV) in Nigerian higher education.
The findings show that 70% of female students and 30% of male students have experienced at least one form of GBV on campus and 63% of female staff and 37% of male staff have the same experience. Sexual misconduct, including unwanted touching, inappropriate comments, verbal abuse, and stalking was identified as the most common form of harassment by 42.2% of all respondents.
According to Iheoma Obibi, Executive Director, Alliances for Africa (AfA), “these numbers are not abstract. They represent thousands of students who walked through the gates of our universities seeking knowledge and a future, and instead encountered harassment, coercion, and silence. This data makes one thing undeniable; Nigeria’s universities are not safe, and that need to change.”
The survey shows that students on Nigerian campuses are being coerced into sexual exchanges for academic grades and privileges, threatened for refusing advances, and in some cases transferring universities to escape harassment. Despite this, many survivors do not report their experiences, due a lack of trust in institutional processes, fear of retaliation, and the absence of accessible, confidential reporting channels. These are not incidental failures. They are the consequences of institutions that have not prioritised the safety and dignity of their communities.
AfA is calling on Vice-Chancellors to act urgently by establishing independent sexual harassment response units, publish and enforce robust institutional policies, create safe and confidential reporting mechanisms, and mandate training for all staff. Equally, AfA urges the National Universities Commission, the Federal Ministry of Education, and state governments to introduce policies that protect everyone on campus and funding for survivor support and prevention programmes. Systemic change requires systemic accountability.
Iheoma Obibi, further stated that Vice-Chancellors must take concrete steps to end sexual harassment on campuses across the country. She said, “every institution that received our researchers, that contributed to this data, and others, now holds a mirror to itself. The question is no longer whether sexual harassment exists on Nigerian campuses. The question is whether those with the power to end it have the courage to act.”
This survey is the foundation of AfA’s five-year programme (2023–2028), developed in partnership with Co-Impact and twelve university Centres for Gender Studies, to eradicate sexual harassment in Nigeria’s public tertiary institutions. This data establishes a clear baseline against which institutional and policy progress will be measured and publicly reported. We believe that the students and staff captured in this data deserve institutions that protect them, believe them, and hold perpetrators to account.
About Alliances for Africa (AfA)
Alliances for Africa (AfA) is a feminist-led human rights, peace, and sustainable development organisation dedicated to advancing gender equality, protecting human rights, and promoting social justice through strategic partnerships and community-led action. AfA works to dismantle systemic barriers that prevent women, girls and marginalized groups from achieving full equality.
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