CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Sexual abuse to some people refers to the activity of having sex with someone against their wishes or without agreement. Sexual abuse occurs throughout the world, among secondary school students who are mostly adolescent girls and most especially in Higher institution of learning where some school administrators takes it with levity hands. However, according to Jewkews (2001) reported that up to one third of them reported that their first sexual experience as being forced. Coerced sex may result in sexual gratification on the part of the perpetrators, though the underlying purpose is frequently the expression of power and dominance over the assaulted, while sexual violence or abuse can be directed at anyone, male or female. Student or non-students, the focus of this paper will be on sexual abuse of female students in Federal College of Education, Abeokuta. Forcing students to have nonconsensual sexual activity is a behavior found in every country. Usually it is the male who force female students against their will. Owuamanam (1995) reported a high prevalence of sexual abuse in public institutions in Nigeria. According to Owuamanan sexual abuse is a common form of sexual explanation in Nigerian schools. In Nigeria and in most Africa school setting, the most common place where sexual abuse occurs or take place is the school.
Sex can be defined as the way you connect into sexual activity sex come into two (2) different ways which are gender sex – (female and male) and oral sex – (co-stipulation between man and woman to produce their younger ones).
Sexual abuse in Nigeria’s college of education appears to be under-researched and even less reported (Adamolekun, 1989). However, the Commission on the Review of Higher Education in Nigeria (CRHEN) (1991), as cited in Ladebo, (2001) suggests that the phenomenon is gradually assuming critical dimension in Nigeria’s higher institutions of learning.
However, the term sexual abuse (is referred to as Sexual harassment) which is been defined as unwelcomed sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and other verbal or physical conduct of sexual nature (Aluede, 2000; Cohen, n.d). It is typically referred to as silent disease that is seriously eroding academic excellence in tertiary institutions in Nigeria. It is often seen as behavior that is unwelcome (the recipient does not want it), unsolicited (the recipient did not ask for it), and repeated (the behavior is not one isolated incident). A behavior can be considered sexual abuse (or sexual harassment) when:
· Submission to such conduct is explicitly or implicitly a term or condition for an individual’s employment or participating in educational programmes; or
· Submission to, or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as a basis for employment or academic decisions affecting the individual; or
· When such conduct has the purpose of effect of unreasonably interfering with an employee’s work performance or student’s academic performance, creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working or learning environment
The definition of sexual abuse identifies the various behaviors that may constitute sexual harassment in a work environment. The first two provisions deal with unequal power relations between the employer/supervisor and employee/subordinate. An employer or a supervisor demands sexual gratification from the employee or subordinate in return for job benefits. In the academic environment, a parallel situation could be argued to arise when lecturers propose to female students for sexual favors, in return for favorable examination results. The third provision refers to the existence of a hostile work environment, where the offending behavior interferes with the satisfactory work performance of an employee. Fitzgerald, Galfand and Drasgow (1995) further extended this definition by adding three empirically derived situations: unwanted sexual attention such as touching, hugging, stroking and demanding a date; sexual coercion, which relates to sexual advances with the promise of job-related benefits; and gender harassment, which refers to those verbal or non-verbal behaviors (such as jokes, taunts, gestures and exhibition of pornographic materials).
Tertiary institutions in Nigeria have been bedeviled with the obscene dressing y students, especially the female students, secret cult activities and drug abuse, to mention a few. Most of the female students almost go naked, display their navels and boobs and wearing what are just ample cleavages on display depicting size and shape of the private parts with minis that barely cover their buttocks. These are weapons of mass distraction and sexual abuse. Some of the students are so normally bankrupt that they rely absolutely on their womanhood to ‘pass’ their examinations. They seduce fellow male students or examiners to assist them write their examinations or award them pass marks as the case may be.
The general increase in the social vices in Nigerian tertiary institutions might be responsible for the general decline in the quality of graduates being turned out by Nigeria’s tertiary institutions. An evaluation of the quality of graduates from Nigerian tertiary institutions based mainly on a series of questions put on major employers of Nigerian graduates as a way of assessing graduates’ level of preparation and performance on the job; the result showed that the quality of the graduates is deteriorating (The Scholar, 2001). There is also a general perception that sexual harassment is prevalent in most or all tertiary campuses in Nigeria and that the phenomenon had been on the increase in the last 10 years (Ladebo, 201).
Sexual abuse is an all too familiar part of the everyday experience in tertiary institutions and it is characterized as one of the most omnipresent and rampant form of gender-based violence which many ladies face daily (American Association of University Women, 2006). Sexual abuse (or harassment) is complex, not always unidirectional, played down by all concerned, unreported and considered a serious moral and social problem in tertiary institutions. It may take several forms: male lecturers to female students, male students to female students, male lecturers to female lecturers and non-academic staff and so on. Female students are in most cases at great risk, while the male academic staff are likely to be the perpetrators of sexual harassment in tertiary institutions. This trend is amazing and disturbing in an environment that is often believed to be a centre of excellence, be a molding and filtering ground for building virile leaders and intellectuals that will mount the stage of leadership of the country tomorrow.
However, the relationship between previous sexual intercourse in adolescents and youth such as drug use smoking, drinking of alcohol, violence may reflect the fact that the school promotes the meeting of young people of the opposite sexing in an environment that is not mentioned as reason for their first intercourse.
According to Kalof (2000), said that sexual activity has become a common aspect fo adolescent relationship especially in higher level of learning. Adolescent are often faced with four (4) distinct standard of premarital sexual behavior.
· Complete abstinence
· A double standard that allow male but not female to enjoy sexual activity with impurity
· Sexual activity with affection
· Sexual activity based solely on physical desire with the first two effect past attitudes has propounded by Kalop, (2000).
This research therefore intends to critically examine the impacts of sexual abuse on the female students of Federal college of education, Abeokuta, Ogun State.
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
Female students in Nigeria colleges of education have unique experiences of sexual harassment from male, staff and pers. Though sexual harassment is a global concept that affects female student. In other countries sexual abuse is a behavior that is generally unacceptable in any public setting. Nigerian society does not accept the concept of abuse and so does not perceive sexual abuse as evil or a violation of women’s right. In Anambra state for instance, sexual abuse was indirectly legitimized by teaching and nonteaching staff. Nwaogwugwu (2007) described a practice in Anambra state colleges and universities popularly called “sorting” where students (males and females) pay their way through examinations either with cash, gifts, or sexual gratifications. In this practice, male students were asked to pay money but sexual gratification was the top expectation for female students.Therefore, the study would examine the impact of sexual abuse of female student in Federal College of Education in Abeokuta Ogun State.
1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
This study is to examine the impact of sexual abuse on female students in Federal College of education, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria. Nigeria has high male to female ratios among the staff and students of its colleges.
This research work is set to accomplish the following objectives
1. What are the implications of sexual abuse?
2. To investigate the reason of sexual abuse?
3. To investigate the influence of sexual abuse on female student?
4. Ways to reduce sexual abuse among female student.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
For the purpose of this research work the following research questions have been formulated.
a. What are the implications of sexual abuse on female student in federal college of Education, Abeokuta?
b. What are the consequences of experiencing sexual harassment for female, student, academically and socially?
c. What are the causes of sexual abuse?