Managing Sexual Victimization Rates of Female Undergraduates in Nigeria: A Study of Delta State University, Abraka

Abstract

This study empirically examines the rate of sexual victimization of female undergraduates in Nigeria by obtaining evidence from the Delta State University, Abraka – Nigeria. Given this, the effort was made to specifically examine the perception of female lecturers and undergraduate students on the prevailing rate of acts of sexual victimization within Nigerian universities and establish whether acts of sexual harassment, rape and stalking significantly influence the academic activities and outcomes of victims of sexual victimization. Primary data were obtained through interviews and the questionnaire which was specifically constructed for this study. Items in the questionnaire were pre-tested and its reliability was established using the Cronbach alpha test which produced a reliability coefficient of 0.87. The study's data were analysed by selected measures of central tendency (mean, standard deviation) and the formulated hypotheses were tested using relevant regression technique and the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test. Findings suggest that while campuses of Nigerian Universities have not been free from cases of sexual harassment involving lecturers and students, the rates of sexual harassment, rape and stalking have not been on the increase in recent time. Recommendations were thus made based on the study's findings.