The Nigerian Girl-Child and Sexual Abuse: The Plight of Victims in Bayelsa State Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the effect of child sexual abuse on children in Yenagoa Local Government Area, Bayelsa State. Relevant literatures that deal on child sexual abuse were reviewed. Three research questions guided the study. Survey and semi-structured interview were the research design employed. Sample size for the study was 200 sexually abused children drawn from the ages between 0 - 17 years from Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa was selected as the site of the research as a result of the recent high prevalence of girl-child sexual abuse in the selected location. Research findings showed that 92 (46.0%) of the respondents agreed that bad parenting played a major factor responsible for child sexual abuse in Yenagoa Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, that 94 (47.0%) believed vaginal bleeding to be one of the consequences. The study also revealed that 104 (52.0%) of the respondents agreed that sexual abuse can be prevented through developing and sustaining prevention programs. The study concludes that child sexual abuse is the inhibition of a child‟s physical, psychological, moral or social development due to negligence on the part of the parents, caregivers or other adults to provide the essentials. The study recommends that all stakeholders including the church, communities, government and caregivers must be involved in the process of arresting this menace