Vance Center Supports Client-Led Training on TFGBV for Legal Professionals in Nigeria

Participants in the first training session, for judges and magistrates, in Nigeria’s Kaduna State, April 16, 2026. Photo credit: CYPLP

From April to July, Vance Center attorneys participated in a series of training sessions organized by Children and Young People Living for Peace (CYPLP), a youth-led organization in Nigeria.

The trainings were the final phase of a recent project for CYPLP, for which the Vance Center’s Africa Initiatives team worked with Nigerian law firm Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie (UUBO) to produce a training manual for pro bono lawyers, prosecutors, registrars, and magistrates to better understand and respond to cases involving Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV).

The dynamic workshops, part of a series titled “Strengthening Access to Justice for Victims/Survivors of Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence Abuse,” were held in person beginning in April in Nigeria’s northwestern Kaduna state.

In total, about 80 judicial actors and legal professionals involved with the Kaduna State Ministry of Justice received specialized training on TFGBV from several of CYPLP’s partners over the three half-day sessions.

The Vance Center’s Africa Initiatives team, represented by Director Adaobi Egboka and Staff Attorney Yasmine Palmer, contributed to each workshop with a presentation on steps each group could take to implement lessons from the training in their everyday practice. They highlighted the specific aspects of Nigerian law raised in the breakout session scenarios and opportunities for partnerships to strengthen work in this emerging area of the law.

Drawing from the manual, Egboka and Palmer offered insights into how legal professionals can help ensure TFGBV survivors can access justice and outlined legal support available from the Vance Center, beyond the training. They reminded attendees that investigating and litigating these cases doesn’t require developing an entirely new skill set, but rather applying existing knowledge and practical expertise through a digital and victim-conscious lens.

Workshop Overview

The first workshop, held on April 16 for judges and magistrates, featured a goodwill message delivered on behalf of the Chief Judge of Kaduna State by State Magistrate Her Worship Hajara Blessing Dauda. It also featured a presentation by Kenneth Hartman of digital private investigation firm Lucid Truth Technologies on forensic analysis of digital evidence.

The second training, for state prosecutors and pro bono lawyers, was held on April 28. In welcome remarks, Kaduna State Solicitor General and Permanent Secretary Jummai Adamu Dan’Azunmi commended the initiative as a “first of its kind.”

The final training, for court registrars, took place on July 14.

CYPLP Executive Director Dennis Ekwere opened each session with an overview of the organization’s work, a primer on TFGBV, and the need for the justice system to strengthen its response to gender-based violence that occurs in the digital sphere.

UUBO Senior Associate Titilola Olatunde-Fasogbon, who worked extensively on the training manual, joined the sessions virtually to present a comprehensive summary of the legal framework implicated by TFGBV crimes in Nigeria.

She followed this general overview with a detailed presentation tailored for the roles represented at each of the three sessions, exploring how each group could integrate an understanding of digital abuse and violence into their existing practice on criminal law and gender-based violence.

• With lawyers, she discussed layered charging and the importance of using a patchwork of crimes to cover TFGBV, since it is not currently codified as a specific crime in Nigerian law.
• With registrars, she noted the heightened sensitivity of digital sex crime evidence and the different steps necessary to ensure its preservation and confidentiality.
• Magistrates and judges heard examples of how they can help prevent revictimization of TFGBV survivors in their courtrooms and about the types of orders that might be requested during these proceedings.

UUBO Senior Associate Titilola Olatunde-Fasogbon presents on the relevant legal frameworks and specific contexts in which attendees might address TFGBV in their professional capacity.

Next, attendees broke into groups to work through hypothetical scenarios tailored to their role in the legal response to TFGBV. For example, judges and magistrates were prompted to make a sentencing determination based on a fact pattern about non-consensual image sharing and cyberstalking of a former intimate partner. Each group then presented and discussed their conclusions from the breakouts.

CYPLP received positive feedback from session participants and encouraging signs of support from the state Ministry of Justice. Attendees arrived with no prior knowledge or formal training on TFGBV, but left with greater clarity about their roles in handling, managing, and preserving digital evidence in court, according to CYPLP. The organization plans to hold periodic refresher programs to stay aligned with evolving legal trends and standards for using digital evidence.

The Kaduna State Solicitor General formally accepted the training manual as a standard legal guide for the Ministry of Justice. The CYPLP team will partner with the Ministry to create a centralized repository for TFGBV resources, with referral pathways and key contacts for support services in Kaduna.

The Vance Center continues working with other partners to provide legal support in this evolving area of gender-based violence.

The training session for judges and magistrates, April 16, 2026. Photo credit: CYPLP

About the Project

Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence refers to any act of gender-based violence committed or amplified by the use of technology or digital media against an individual. Offenses can include non-consensual image sharing, cyberstalking, doxing, and digital impersonation. TFGBV is a rapidly evolving threat in an increasingly digitized world, as the continued proliferation of digital platforms accessible across the world has broadened the spectrum of harm that women and girls can face in their online and offline lives.

While TFGBV is not a new phenomenon, it has become a more prominent point of concern for global civil society in recent years. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) held its Third Global Symposium on TFGBV in March 2025, and the 2026 UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) featured several sessions on different approaches to rectifying and combatting TFGBV.

The comprehensive training manual is an important addition to ongoing efforts to address the emerging area of gender-based harm occurring in Nigeria’s digital sphere. The manual provides detailed explanations about which different pieces of legislation can be leveraged together to address TFGBV cases, including laws concerning cybercrimes, gender-based violence, and evidence preservation. Quick reference tables throughout the 147-page document highlight specific ways that lawyers, registrars and magistrates can merge TFGBV-conscious practices with existing expertise in varying contexts.

The manual also analyzes how legal professionals can draw on regional human rights instruments like the Child Rights Act and the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights to bolster arguments under domestic law.