About 80 per cent of Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs) in Nigeria rely on donor funding to operate, the Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC) has revealed. Chief Executive Officer Lucy Abagi disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja during the launch of the organisation's 2025 Annual Reports and the State of Sexual Assault Referral Centres in Nigeria Report. She described the report as the most comprehensive national assessment of SARCs ever conducted in Nigeria, covering facilities across multiple states. The assessment found major gaps in service delivery, including poor infrastructure, insufficient staffing, inadequate forensic facilities and limited access to shelters. While states like Jigawa, Borno and Lagos showed better performance, many centres struggle with weak institutional support and lack of funding. Abagi stated that SARCs provide free medical care, psychosocial support, legal assistance and protection services to survivors of sexual and gender-based violence. However, their dependence on donor funding threatens long-term sustainability. "Shelters remain unavailable in several locations, while approximately 80 per cent of centres depend heavily on donor funding for survival. Such dependence raises serious concerns about long-term sustainability," Abagi said. She urged state governments to create dedicated budget lines for SARCs, expand shelter facilities, strengthen forensic capabilities and invest in staff training. Programme Manager Mariam Omeiza called for secure digital case management systems to improve data collection, confidentiality and case tracking. PPDC also reported achievements in justice sector reform, supporting over 20,000 detainees through prison reform initiatives. The organisation secured the bail or release of 7,801 detainees held without conviction and facilitated the acquittal of 428 people through 94 pro bono cases. Fines were paid for 54 indigent detainees. Ten courts were fully automated under a technology-driven reform project, and 11,400 court files were digitised to improve efficiency.
Lucy Abagi leads an organisation that secured the release of nearly 8,000 detainees yet highlights that most sexual assault centres survive on donor funds rather than government commitment. State governments that fail to fund SARCs leave survivors dependent on temporary support systems while allocating resources elsewhere. The same states that allowed 7,801 people to languish in detention without conviction now risk repeating neglect in gender-based violence response. If budget lines exist for courts and prisons, they must exist for centres that protect sexual assault survivors.
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