Differential Gender Perception of Sexual Abuse Among Adolescents in Secondary Schools
Chapter Oneย
Objectives of study
- To study the perception of both genders on sexual abuse in their school.
- To study the difference in the perception of both genders on sexual abuse in their school.
- To identify the consequences of sexual abuse on studentโs academic and social life.
- to identify the coping strategies students adopt against sexual abuse.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
ย Concept of sexual abuse
The ย University of ย Virginia ย defines ย sexual ย harassment ย as ย โunwelcome ย sexual ย advances, requests for sexual favours, other verbal or physical conduct, or written communications ย ย of a sexual nature when:
Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individualโs employment or educational experience;
Submission to or rejection of such conduct is used as the ย basis ย for ย employment or academic decisions affecting such individual; orย Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individualโs work, academic performance, or participation in extracurricular activities, or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive working or learning environment (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2002).
sexual abuseย is intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favours (Paludi,ย Michele & Barickman, (1991). In some contexts or ย circumstances, ย sexual ย harassment may be illegal. It includes a range of behaviour from seemingly mild transgressions and annoyances to actual sexual abuse or sexual assault ย (U.S. ย Equal ย Employment ย Opportunity Commission, 2002). sexual abuseย is a form of illegal employment discrimination in many countries, and is a form of abuse (sexual and psychological) and bullying. For many businesses, preventing sexual abuse, and defending employees from sexual abuseย charges, have become key goals of legal decision-making. In contrast, many scholars complain that sexual abuseย in education ย remains ย a ย “forgotten secret,” ย with educators and administrators refusing to admit the problem exist ย in their schools, or accept their legal and ethical responsibilities to deal with it (Dziech, 1990).
Babylon English dictionary, describes sexual abuseย as โpestering one due to his/her
gender or ย sexual orientationโ (Aluede, Imokhire ย and ย Idogho ย .2011). Sexual ย harassment ย is harassment or unwelcome attention of a sexual nature. It includes a range of behaviour from mild transgressions and annoyances to serious abuses, which can ย even ย involve ย forced ย sexual ย ย activity.
Types of sexual abuse
Dzeich et al has divided harassers into two broad classes:
Public harassers are flagrant in their seductive or sexist attitudes towards colleagues, subordinates, students, etc.
Private harassers carefully cultivate a restrained and respectable image on the surface, but when alone with their target, their demeanour changes completely.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Study design
Advertisements
Descriptive cross sectional design was adopted for this study to assess the differential gender perception of sexual abuse, itโs prevalence, types, andย coping strategies employed againstย sexual abuse among secondary school studentsย inย Ikorodu, Lagos.
ย Study population
The study population for this research was all the students in public secondary schoolsย Ikorodu. In total, there were 305 students across the schools.
Sample and sampling procedure
All the 305 students were approached and 291 representing 95.4% consented to participate in the study. All the 291 students were subsequently surveyed.
Method and Instrument for data collection for the study
The instrument used for this study was a semi โ structured self-administered questionnaire. A validated self- administered Questionnaire was used to collect information from students about their perception of sexual abuse in the school environment. The questionnaire contained ninety six (96) both open-ended and close-ended questions and it was self-administered. The questionnaire was divided into five sections:
Section A: socio-demographic characteristics of respondents
Section B: Perception ofย sexual abuse among the respondents.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTย PRESENTATION
Demographic information
The socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents are presented in table 4.1. Above three-quarter (78.8%) of the respondents were females while only 21.2% were males. A large majority (88.4%) of the respondents were Christians, a few (10.0%) belong to Islam and Traditional religion (0.4%). The mean age of the respondents ย was 16.0 ยฑ 4.1 ย years. More than ย half (58.0%) of the respondents were within the age bracket 14-16ย years while only a ย few ย (2.0%) were 20ย years above. (Table 4.1)
CHAPTER FIVE
DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
ย Discussion of findings
Consequences of sexual abuse
Findings from the study showed that the common consequences or the ย effect ย of ย sexual abuseย on students or victims in the higher institution are hatred towards the perpetrator, having feeling of depression over the incident (80.8%), inability to ย concentrate ย on ย study/academic (68.0%), fear of going to where the incident happened(74.8%) and experienced failure in academic (56.6%). As mentioned by the respondents, the degree of effect differs from person to person. The finding is in line with the study of the American Association of University Women [AAUW] (2006) where they reported physical and emotional effects from sexual abuseย on female students: 68% of female students felt very or somewhat upset by sexual abuseย they experienced, 6% were not at all upset, 57% of female students who have been sexually harassed reported feeling self-conscious or embarrassed, 55% of female students who have been sexually harassed reported feeling angry and 32% female students who have been sexually harassed reported feeling afraid or scared.
Coping strategies against sexual abuse
The nature many people here is that reservation about sexuality and unwanted sexual conduct. Nearly all students would have seen sexually harassing behavioursโas well ย as ย violent ย assault and rapeโon television, in magazines, or in ย movies. However, most students do ย not or ย would ย not want to discuss their personal experiences with sexual abuseย openly. Finding from the study show that about one third of the respondents would report such incidence to school ย authority, listen to music to soothe the feeling, talk to a pastor/imam, talk to a lecturer about the incidence, identify situation that is likely to lead to sexual abuseย and avoid such ย in ย the future, break any relationship with the perpetrator of sexual abuseย and engaged in verbal confrontation with the abuser.
This is in contrast with the findings of Hill and Silva (2005) reported that about a quarter ย of ย female students and 44 percent of male students who have encountered sexual abuseย have never told anyone. Dealing with sexual abuseย in a contradictory culture is a challenge for any institution. For instance, for colleges and universitiesโwhich are simultaneously home, workplace, and learning environmentโdrawing the line is especially challenging. Nevertheless, dealing with sexual abuseย on campus is essential to ensure a safe ย and ย welcoming ย educational climate for all students. Cogin and Fish (2009) also support to Hill and Silva findings that those who ย are sexually harassed display common coping strategies:, i.e. indirect expression ย ย of anger, denial or minimization of the incident, and compliance; as well as feelings of powerlessness, aloneness, fright, humiliation, and incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder (Willness, Steel and Kibeom, 2007). Madison, Hamlin and Hoffman (2002) examined the experiences of perioperative nurses and reported that sexual abuse, sexual intimidation, physical assault, and verbal abuse accounted for 45 percent of all traumatic events reported by perioperative nurses and was a significant source of occupational stress.
Conclusion
sexual abuseย has been found to be prevalent among secondary school students inย Ikorodu, with the females being the predominant recipients. The act which is ย of ย various types occurs at different places within the school environment and it is perpetrated by predominantly male harassers. A number of factors have been identified asย predisposing victims to experiencingย sexual abuse.ย The study revealed that institutions of higher learning still have a lot to do to foster a campus climate that is free from bias and harassment so ย that all students will have ย equal opportunity to safety and then excel in higher education. As ย this ย research ย documents, higher institution students including those in School of Nursing experience some type of sexual abuseย while at school, ranging from unwanted sexual remarks to ย forced ย sexual ย contact, these experiences cause students, especially female students, to feel upset, uncomfortable, angry, and disappointed in their school experience, some find it difficult to concentrate on their ย academics or experience academic failure . In response, students avoid places on campus, changeย their schedules, drop classes or activities, or otherwise change their lives to avoid sexual abuse. Many institutions of higher learning have no policies in place, this makes sexual abuseย to continue to have a damaging impact on the educational experiences of many students.
Based on the inferences drawn from the study, issues of sexual abuseย in the schools have to be dealt with all determination and sincerity. This may suggest the need forย a deliberate policy to address sexual abuse. With a sexual ย harassment policy that is widely circulated the academic community will be able to understand that the schoolย will ย not tolerate sexual abuseย and ย know ย that ย sexual ย harassment is illegal and is against policy. They will also know where to get professional help.
ย Recommendations
The challenges and recommendations based on the findings of this study are as follow:
Proper legal definition of what constitutes sexual abuseย is needed:
Although the respondents provided an understanding of sexual abuseย that was close to the universally acceptable definition, it is still important that all the relevant documents each schoolย should have a clear definition of the same and clear cut information about, and implication of perpetratingย sexual abuse should be made available to all stakeholders within the school environment.
A clear school policy on sexual abuseย is essential as secondary schoolsย still lags ย behind in developing a sexual abuseย policy.
Clearly defined structures to report cases of sexual abuseย should be established and empowered. As already discussed in the findings, the current structures of the schoolย disciplinary committees have proved ineffective in relation to dealing with issues of sexual abuse. secondary schoolsย community doesnโt trust the current set-up and hence it will ย not have a long term impact in curbing harassment. Employers and employees should clearly communicate that sexual abuseย will not be tolerated. They can do so by establishing an effective complaint or grievance process and taking immediate and appropriate action when an employee complains.
Basic training regarding sexual abuseย is highly essential, the culture of silenceโ, fear of reprisals and fear of being labeled by the college community (stigmatization) should be ameliorated. There is need ย for a strong political will amongst stakeholders of nursing education ย ย to debate over this issue and find lasting solutions to ย it as it has constituted ย major reasons why ย sexual abuse is on the increase in the school environment
An effective guidance and counseling service within the school environment could help to assist students to find solutions to educational, social, psychological, emotional as well as health problems in the school environment. So there is a dare need ย to put this in place as it has never ย been in practice in secondary schools.
There is also need for advocacy. Of importance is the role of concerned local and foreignย organizations and governmentย agencies to organize periodic empowerment programmes aimed at reducing incidence ofย sexual abuse and building effective copping strategies and skills againstย sexual abuse for students and others in the academic environment.
REFERENCES
- Adebanjo F. and Olubiyi K. (2008). Reforms in Nursing Education: the National open University of Nigeria experience. School of Science and Technology, National Open University of Nigeria, Lagos, Nigeria.
- Adetunji, B. (2008). Experiencing sexual abuse. Journal of Black Psychology, NewYork.
- Alan Grieco (1987) sexual abuseย as an Occupational Hazard in Nursing www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s15324834basp1704_8.ย Retrieved, Nov,2014
- Alex Tettey-Enyo, (2011). Participatory poverty and vulnerability assessment (PPVA), Understanding the regional dynamic of poverty with particular focus on ย Ghanaโs ย Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions; UNICEF, Ghana Regional Office, 2011
- Aluede O.O. (2000). sexual abuseย of Women Employees in a Nigerian University: Implications for counselors. Guidance Counsel.15(2):27โ32.
- Aluede O., Imokhire J. and Idogho P.(2011). A Survey of Teachersโ and Studentsโ Perception of sexual abuseย in Tertiary Institutions of Edo State, Nigeria: URL:http//dx.doi.org/105539/ass.v8n1p268
- Aluede, O. O Imonikhe,J, & Idogho, P. ( 2012). A Survey of Teachersโ and Studentsโ Perception of sexual abuseย in Tertiary Institutions of Edo State, Nigeria. Journal ofย Asian Social Science, 8 (1): 268-27.