Child Rape in Nigeria, Implications on the Education of the Child

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate child rape in Nigeria, its implications on the education of the child. Descriptive survey design was adopted. Three research questions guided the study. The population of the study was all the young parents in Nigeria whose female children are between 0-12 years old. Disproportionate random sampling was used to select 100 respondents each from 8 states out of 36 states in the country, making it 800 respondents. Structured questionnaire and interview were used to collect data from the respondents. Frequency, percentage and rank order were used to analyze the data collected for research question one. Mean, standard deviations and rank order were used to analyze data for research questions two and three. The findings revealed a high prevalence of child rape in Nigeria. The findings also identified in rank order; lack of reports on rape cases, mishandling of rape cases, child labour, children being left alone without care, men raping children for ritual purposes, indecent dressing as the causes of child rape. According to the findings, the effects of child rape in rank order include; emotional traumas, social stigma, sexual transmitted infections, termination of child’ life, low academic performance, physical pains and injuries, school dropout, poor attendance to school. Recommendations and implications were also made.