PREVALENCE OF VIOLENT SEXUAL ASSAULT ON SOUTH WEST NIGERIA GIRLS
European Scientific Journal March 2014 edition vol.10
PREVALENCE OF VIOLENT SEXUAL ASSAULT ON SOUTH WEST NIGERIA GIRLS
Odu 0
Bimbolakemi Dr. Falana 0
Bernard Akinlabi Olotu 0
Olukoyaadewale 0
0 Department Of Guidance & Counselling, Faculty Of Education, Ekiti State University , Ado-Ekti , Nigeria
The study investigated the prevalence of violent Sexual Assault on South West Nigeria girls. It investigated the etiological and causative factors engendering sexual assault, characteristics of males that sexually assault and reasons why rapists assault. Also, myths about sexual assault, conditions that precipitates sexual assault, predicaments of sexual assault and intervention or needs of sexually assaulted survivors. Descriptive research design of the survey type was used in the study; the researcher surveyed the entire vulnerable female girls in South West Nigeria. Reports in national dailies and various sophisticated media indicated that majority of the girls are sexually abused and vulnerable to sexual assault. There are cultural, mythical, social and psychological factors enhancing the susceptibility of female children to sexual assault. There are indications that socio economic variables enhance the amenability of girls to sexual assault. Based on this, parents, teachers and significant others should orientate vulnerable girls and discourage cultural norms that engenders sexual assault. The law enforcement agents should sharpen all their weapons of sanitation to curb the prevalence of sexual assault in the society. The curriculum planners should imbibe this in the curriculum subjects and discourage the tenacity of assault. The study will be of benefit to vulnerable girls, parents, students, teachers, counsellors,law enforcement agents and care givers.
Rape; sexual abuse; sexual assault; counselling; date and acquaintance
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Introduction
The terminology sexual assault is a composite term. Generally, it
refers to rape or other forms ofsexual abuse. Definition of sexual assault
varies fromindividual to individual and professional to professionals.
Sometimes it is based on sex, religion, age and so on. From women's
perspective , Brownmiller (1975 ) defined "rape" as sexual invasion of the
body by force, an incursion into the private personal inner space without
consent, an internal assault from one of several avenues and by one of
several methods that constitutes a deliberate violation of emotional, physical
and rational integrity and is hostile degrading act of violence. The U.S
Department of Justice (2003) declared that 6 in 10 assaulted victims
reported that offender was an intimate , relative, a friend or acquaintance.
The situation is very rife in Nigeria. There are adequate reports on
daily bases of parents assaulting children, proprietors of schools assaulting
pupils, grandfather raping grandchild. Virtually everything is vividly seen in
the Nigeria newspapers and sophisticated media about the tenacity and the
tendentious sexual assaults metted on Nigeria girls. These are equally
reported in virtually all the developing nations across the world. About
103,000 children are reported as having been sexually abused in the United
States out of 903,000 child maltreatment cases. Salter (1988) reported that on
the issue of child sexual abuse in nonclinical population studies and
estimated that up to 38 percent of females and 11 percent of males had been
sexually abused.
Schwartz- Kenny, McCauley&Epstem (2001) reported that the
situation is debilitating in Asia and Africa. Unfortunately, majority of the
sexual assault offenders commit the crime with impunity in these developing
nations because of cultural inhibitions and shyness.
In some cases,horrifically, children are sold into slavery or thralldom
as child prostituted and servants by their impoverished parents. The horrific
trade of child trafficking that is defying all weapons of sanitation in Nigeria
is one of the banes that are promoting sexual assault in Nigeria. The U.S
Department of Justice (1998) reported that majority of sexual assault are
perpetrated on children and female under age 15.
It is terrifying that 50 to 90 percent of all rapes or attempted rapes
were unreported. Most of the incest and molestation are never reported.
More so, date rapes and stranger rapes are not reported due to shame,
humiliation, guilt, cultural taboos; and to avoid victimization at the hands of
medical authorities. Many of the cases are throne away in the law courts
because of lack of evidences and distortion of evidences by law enforcement
agents and inadequate exhibits for prosecution.
Etiological and Causative Factors Engendering Sexual Assault
The reasons why South West people are involved in sexual assault is
genealogical, cultural and psychological. Brownmiller (1975 ) and Eisler
(1987-1995) reported that male dominance is the driving force in rape in all
cultures . The culture of Yoruba land of Nigeria appears to subsume all
females under male dominance. (...truncated)