Seasoned lawyers and mental health experts are demanding an outright ban or radical reform of cultural festivals that expose women to sexual and gender-based violence, warning that tradition can no longer be used as a shield for criminal behaviour.

The call follows the Alue-Do festival in Ozoro, Isoko North Local Government Area of Delta State, where women were reportedly chased, groped, and stripped in public by groups of young men. Viral videos of the attacks triggered nationwide outrage and renewed scrutiny of cultural rites that restrict or endanger women.

The Delta State Police Command has arrested multiple suspects, including the community head, Chief Omorede Sunday, and opened an investigation. The state government has condemned the assaults as barbaric and insisted that no custom can override constitutional rights.

Legal experts argue that the Ozoro incident is not an isolated case but part of a wider pattern in which harmful practices are normalised under the guise of culture. They point to festivals that confine women indoors, discriminatory widowhood rites, forced marriages, and other rituals that degrade or endanger women and girls.

Eliana Martins, Country Vice President of the International Federation of Women Lawyers Nigeria, described the Ozoro attacks as a stark reminder of how deeply entrenched misogynistic customs remain. She noted that while many Nigerians were horrified, others defended the assaults as “tradition” and blamed women for stepping outside.

Martins insisted that any practice “repugnant to natural justice, equity and good conscience” must be abolished. She stressed that customs which subjugate women violate constitutional guarantees of freedom of movement, personal safety, and dignity, and should be treated as crimes against the state, not private family matters.

Civil rights lawyer Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi echoed this position, arguing that culture is dynamic and must evolve to protect, not endanger, women. She called for targeted abolition of harmful elements within festivals and rites, backed by strict enforcement of existing gender-based violence laws and survivor-centred policing.

Mental health professionals warn that the psychological impact of such attacks is profound. Former president of the Association of Psychiatrists in Nigeria, Prof Taiwo Obindo, said survivors are at high risk of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety, and urged authorities to pair criminal accountability with accessible psychological support.

The experts are urging a coordinated national response involving traditional rulers, government agencies, law enforcement, civil society, and the media to dismantle abusive customs and promote new norms that uphold women’s rights and safety.