Nigerian men, boys left behind in gender equity efforts — Group

Despite global efforts to advance women’s rights, Nigerian men and boys face a growing crises in education, healthcare, intimate partner violence, employment conditions and others, a group has said.

The International Council for Men and Boys, in a press release sent to PREMIUM TIMES on Friday, said while efforts are ongoing to advance women’s empowerment, men and boys in Nigeria are being overlooked.

The group is a non-governmental organisation working to celebrate the contributions of men to society and to end the 12 sex disparities that affect men and boys around the world.

The US-based organisation said Nigeria needs to urgently confront these gender gaps and ensure its males are no longer ignored in national dialogue.

Education

According to the international group, men in Nigeria are less literate than women. According to the United Nations Women Fact Sheet, only 52.7 per cent of men aged 15 and above can read and write, compared to 62 per cent of women

According to 2018 Statista data, elementary school enrollment in some regions of Nigeria showed a gender disparity, with the southwest zone having the highest female enrollment at 73 per cent and the North-West zone having 64.4 per cent male enrollment.

Meanwhile, findings by PREMIUM TIMES show that the figures are not entirely accurate. According to Statista, as of 2018, the gross enrollment rate in elementary schools in Nigeria stood at 68.3 per cent.

“The North-Western states registered the highest figures, with 70.3 per cent for males and 71.1 per cent for females.

“In particular, the states of Katsina and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) had the highest rates nationwide, whereas Rivers and Zamfara recorded the lowest figures,” the website reads.

The organisation said that at Ignatius Ajuru University, nearly two-thirds of students in 2018 were women.

However, there are more male undergraduates than females in Nigeria, as of 2018, PREMIUM TIMES’ search revealed.

Health

Similarly, in the healthcare sector, Nigerian men are more likely to die before their female counterparts.

The life expectancy for males is 60, while for females, it is 64, which is among the lowest globally.

“Adult mortality is also higher for men: 364.6 deaths per 1,000 compared to 349.87 per 1,000 for women,” the statement reads.

Intimate Partner Violence

Quoting a research assessing the prevalence and forms of intimate partner violence during the COVID-19 lockdown, the organisation lamented that 44.8 per cent of men reported intimate partner violence, compared to 37.6 per cent of women.

Sexual violence (28.1 per cent) and deprivation (80 per cent) were common, with many men remaining silent due to stigma and normalisation of abuse.

Homicide, suicide

Also, men face triple the homicide risk—14.604 per 100,000 compared to 4.967 for women, according to World Bank data.

The group described suicide as “men’s crisis,” with 8.4 deaths per 100,000, nearly six times higher than its female counterparts.

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Workplace

Citing the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the group said work-related deaths are unequally distributed, with the male mortality rate (108.3 per 100,000 in the labour force) being significantly higher than the female rate (48.4 per 100,000).

According to the data released by the ILO, in 2023, work-related diseases and accidents killed 2.6 million, globally.