Author: Oba Alara of Ara Kingdom (Dr.) Olubayo Windapo
Traditional Leader’s Responsibility
As traditional leaders, we play an important role in decision-making, community guidance, and the preservation of shared values. Our positions place us before our people not only as custodians of tradition, but also as examples of the standards we expect our communities to uphold.
As custodians of culture, we help preserve practices and values that promote identity, dignity, and communal cohesion. Our knowledge of our people’s language, history, customs, and traditions places us in a strong position to address community challenges. We must therefore use this influence to separate cultural values that strengthen our communities from practices that endanger women and girls.
When Culture Becomes a Barrier to Protection
Culture should promote identity, dignity, belonging, and peaceful co-existence. Yet, in some communities, harmful beliefs and practices can enable abuse, excuse violence, or make violence against women and girls seem acceptable. The belief that harmful norms are ways of identifying as members of a community, and that speaking up against outdated practices is rebellious, has contributed to the prevalence of violence. Families may be pressured to settle serious cases, such as rape, privately to avoid bringing shame to the family or community. Women and girls may then remain silent because of fear of stigma, rejection, or further injustice.
When harmful practices are defended simply because they are considered “customary,” culture can become a barrier to protection and justice. As traditional leaders, we therefore have a vital responsibility to challenge harmful norms, protect the dignity and rights of women and girls, and promote traditions that uphold safety, equality, and the wellbeing of the entire community.
From Custodians of Culture to Champions of Prevention
The Centre for Women’s Health and Information (CEWHIN), with support from the Ford Foundation, is working with traditional and religious stakeholders in Ogun and Osun States to prevent violence against women and girls. The project “Partnership for Enhanced VAWG Prevention among Religious and Traditional Stakeholders in Ogun and Osun States, Nigeria” (PVP Project 2025–2027) recognises that lasting change must come from within communities.
During our engagements with CEWHIN through different programmes and workshops, including consultative forums, capacity-building sessions, and breakfast meetings, we reflected on the realities within our communities and strengthened our understanding of how traditional institutions can help prevent violence against women and girls. Through these engagements, we identified best practices and behavioural standards to guide our role in preventing violence against women and girls within our communities.
The Traditional Leader’s Code of Conduct
A key outcome of the project is the Code of Conduct for Traditional Leaders on the prevention of physical abuse, sexual exploitation and violence against women and girls. Developed with the direct input of traditional leaders from Ogun and Osun States, the Code provides practical guidance for Obas, Baales, palace officials, council members, community elders, female traditional leaders, and others acting on behalf of those who serve within traditional institutions.
The Code makes clear that traditional authority should be used to protect people, uphold justice, and serve the community, not to excuse abuse or promote personal interests. It promotes respect, fairness, integrity, accountability, and zero tolerance for violence and exploitation. It also calls on traditional leaders to challenge harmful norms, create safe reporting channels, protect confidentiality, and ensure that survivors are treated with dignity and without blame.
A central principle of the Code is a survivor-centred approach. This requires that the safety, rights, dignity and well-being of survivors must guide every response. Cases should be promptly referred to appropriate service providers and statutory authorities when necessary. Traditional institutions are also encouraged to collaborate with government agencies, faith-based organisations, civil society organisations and/or groups, and community structures. In this way, the Code is more than just another document; it is a framework for ethical leadership, prevention, effective response, and community trust.
What Changed: Evidence from the Project
The project has helped move us from passive participation to active ownership of VAWG prevention. Rather than receiving a pre-developed document, we shaped the Code of Conduct through our contributions, experience, perspectives, feedback, and practical knowledge of community realities. This participatory process has made the Code more relevant, practical, and recognisable to traditional institutions. As a result, the Code reflects locally relevant standards that we can adopt and enforce. The launch of the Code marked a clear commitment point. We formally adopted the document and pledged to uphold its provisions, turning the engagement from a consultation into an agreed standard for leadership, prevention, and response within our communities.
Early results and signs of implementation are already emerging in our communities. Some of us are using town hall and community meetings to educate residents about violence against women and girls and to challenge harmful beliefs that enable abuse. Others have established GBV response points within their palaces to make reporting and referral easier for survivors. Several leaders have also issued clear warnings against perpetrating violence and its consequences, making it clear that traditional authority should no longer be used to excuse abuse but should prevent it, support survivors, and hold people accountable.
From Project Activity to Community Movement
The Code of Conduct should not remain a document associated only with the PVP project. It should become part of everyday community leadership that helps achieve the following:
- Safer Communities for Women and Girls: Traditional leaders should ensure their palaces and community meeting spaces are safe and welcoming environments.
- Prevention and Reduction of Violence and Abuse: Traditional leaders should promote proactive measures to prevent violence against women and girls.
- Survivor-Centred Support and Justice: Survivors should be treated with dignity, protected from blame and stigma, and supported to access appropriate services.
- Increased Accountability and Integrity Among Leaders: All decisions regarding VAWG should be properly documented, reviewed, and aligned with relevant laws and policies.
- Enhanced Community Engagement and Collaboration: Traditional leaders should use their influence and platforms to speak out against VAWG and work with relevant government and community stakeholders.
- Continuous Awareness-Raising, Learning and Capacity Building: Traditional leaders, palace officials, and community leadership and representatives should promote regular awareness-raising, training, and information dissemination on VAWG prevention, survivor support, and ethical leadership.
Call to Fellow Traditional Leaders
Every traditional leader has a platform that can either preserve silence or promote protection. I therefore encourage my fellow Obas, Baales, and other custodians of community traditions to adopt the Code of Conduct, integrate its principles into their institutions, and lead by example. Just as we preserve the culture that makes our communities unique, we must also promote the Code of Conduct and preserve the values that protect human dignity, because preventing violence against women and girls is not a rejection of culture; it is an expression of responsible and compassionate leadership.
Closing: The Culture We Leave Behind
The true strength of our culture is reflected in how we treat and protect the vulnerable. By promoting prevention, accountability, dignity, and justice, we can strengthen community trust and support for survivors. Our greatest legacy can be communities where women and girls are safe, respected, valued, and free from violence, and where traditional leadership is recognised not only for preserving culture, but also for protecting people.
Explore the Code of Conduct
Learn more about the Code of Conduct on Prevention of PSEA for Traditional Leaders and its role in promoting accountability, survivor protection, and safer communities.