Beyond Dress Code: Sexual Harassment and Rape: A study of University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria.

1
Beyond Dress Code Sexual Harassment and Rape A
study of University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria.

• By Nkoli N. Ezumah (PhD), Department of
  Sociology/Anthropology, University of Nigeria,
  Nsukka with
• Gabriel Oguamanam, Stella Ugwu,
• Azuka Ofunwa, Kelechi Ossayi,
• Perpetua Tanyi Lum
• Eucharia Nwosu

2
Introduction

• Sexual harassment and rape have been identified
  by many scholars as major problems experienced by
  females in university campuses in many African
  countries including Nigeria.
• Accommodation among others has been identified as
  a major factor providing the context for the
  occurrence of these problems.

3
Objective of the study

• The main objective of this study was to examine
  the extent to which students access to and
  processes of securing accommodation provide the
  context, which facilitates the occurrence of
  sexual harassment and rape in University of
  Nigeria Nsukka campuses and their off campus
  sites.

4
Methodology

• The two campus sites of UNN namely Nsukka and
  Enugu (UNEC) and the off-campus sites used by
  UNN students at Nsukka and Enugu constituted the
  study area.
• Both quantitative and qualitative methods of data
  gathering were used.
• The sample population for the survey comprised
  240 respondents consisting of 200 undergraduates
  (100 males and 100 females) who had spent at
  least one academic year in either of the two
  campuses and forty (40) postgraduate students
  (20males and 20 females).

5
MethodologyContd.

• The instruments for the qualitative method were
  Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), In-depth
  Interviews (IDIs) and Case Studies.
• For the in-depth interviews (IDIs), twenty-three
  (23) respondents were interviewed twenty (20) of
  them were staff of the university while three (3)
  were staff at the off campus sites.
• The two case study participants were female
  academic staff from Nsukka campus who obtained
  their degrees from UNN.
• The qualitative data were analyzed using content
  analysis while SPSS was used for analysis of the
  quantitative data.

6
Results / Findings

• 66.7 of the respondents live in university
  hostel accommodation, while 33.3 are in
  off-campus hostel accommodations.
• A major problem in securing university hostel
  accommodation is the occurrence of unofficial
  sale of accommodation. Staff and students are
  involved in unofficial sale of accommodation.
• The students alleged to be involved in unofficial
  sale of accommodation include those officially
  allocated to hostels but who have alternative
  accommodation and those acting as agents for
  staff of Students Affairs and officials of the
  Students Union Government (SUG).

7
Results/Findings Contd.

• Sexual harassment occurs as students move from
  campus hostels to other facilitates such as the
  classrooms and libraries.
• Specific aspects of sexual harassment identified
  include unwanted touching of the body, verbal
  assaults and unwelcome comments and beating.
• Female students experience sexual harassment more
  although some respondents mentioned that females
  harass males by their indecent dressing. Other
  problems students experience include rape and
  stealing of personal items such as telephones.
• Main perpetrators of sexual harassment are males.

8
Causes of Sexual Harassment

• Insecurity in parts of the campuses at night due
  to insufficient street lights
• Moving alone late at night
• Indecent dressing by females
• Female students seeking to sort or upgrade
  their results
• Lack of self-control and conscience
• Drug addiction
• Revenge for turning down or refusal of a males
  advances.
• Perception of females as sex objects
• Presence of males who camouflage as students

9
Actions Taken by Victims of Sexual Harassment

• Most of the victims are not able to take any
  action due to
• Stigma and shame
• Difficulty in establishing that rape occurred,
• Because some people perceive sexual harassment
  and rape as normal
• Lack of an established system for handling the
  problems,
• Fear of victim blaming and repercussion for
  reporting
• Even when victims report, the reporting is late
  and it is done indirectly through friends and
  merely when one is afraid of having contracted an
  infection.

10
Universitys Role In Dealing With Problems of
Sexual Harassment and Rape

• 50.0 of the respondents indicated that the
  emphasis is on dress code.
• Other actions include punishment of offenders
  through suspension/expulsion/dismissal (16.4),
• posting of security men in various strategic
  areas (19.7),
• creating awareness through seminars, billboards,
  lectures, and workshops (13.9).
• These responses were also reflected in findings
  from the IDIs and FGDs.

11
Role of Management of off Campus
Hostels/Accommodation in Dealing with the
Problems of Sexual Harassment and Rape

• Students are advised to concentrate on their
  studies and be of good behaviour
• Landlords/caretakers have instituted vigilante
  groups to help curb such occurrences and deal
  with culprits
• Efforts are made to beef-up security measures
• Students with fast/aggressive sexual drives are
  advised to marry

12
Consequences of Sexual Harassment and Rape on
Victims

• Victims develop phobia towards males,
• Have a feeling of loss of self-worth/shame,
• Resort to psychological withdrawal,
• Feel humiliated,
• Have poor academic performance.

13
Suggestions on what the University should do to
deal with Sexual Harassment and Rape

• Respondents made several suggestions namely
• Creation of awareness about the problem through
  seminars,
• Establishment of proper dress code,
• Tightening of security by employing more security
  men
• Adequate lightening of the environment,
• Setting up a disciplinary committee to handle the
  matter,
• Punishment of perpetrators
• Sale of alcohol to be stopped on campus.
• Philanthropists and corporate organizations to
  help in providing adequate accommodation for
  students

14
Discussion of Results

• Victim-blaming syndrome on account of presumed
  provocative dressing is a problem.
• Will sexual harassment stop if women dressed
  decently and not provocatively.
• This issue of provocative dressing according to
  Jackson and Scott, (1996) is a demonstration of
  how womens sexuality policed and regulated.
• Another issue of concern is why there should be
  so much insecurity in the campus that by 800pm
  it is considered too late for females to move
  around the facilities.

15
Discussion of Results Contd.

• With the amount of overcrowding reported in the
  hostels at UNN what are the spaces for females to
  engage in scholarly endeavours outside the
  lecture periods if they are to be confined to
  their hostels before 8 pm?
• Although the findings show that the university
  has started sensitization efforts to discourage
  sexual harassment and sexual rape, there is no
  indication that there is a set guideline for
  handling sexual harassment and rape.
• The emphasis on dress code by the administration
  is tantamount to victim blaming rather than
  focusing on critical issues predisposing students
  to sexual harassment and rape as have been
  identified in the study.

16
Conclusions

• Consequences of sexual harassment and rape are
  enormous affecting emotional, physical and
  health status of female victims with adverse
  effects on their educational prospects.
• There has been the tendency for people to resort
  to victim-blaming by attributing the cause of
  sexual harassment and rape to provocative
  dressing among other factors.
• Hence part of the strategy suggested by
  respondents and also implemented by management
  for mitigating the occurrence of sexual
  harassment and rape in the university is the
  emphasis on introduction of dress code.
• A critical issue raised by this study is whether
  sexual harassment and rape would cease if women
  stopped dressing provocatively.
•  

17
Recommendations

• There is the need to ensure adequate security in
  the university environment by providing
  streetlights and patrols during the daytime and
  night.
• Adequate reading rooms should be provided in each
  of the female hostels to minimize the problems
  that occur as students seek to access the
  classrooms and libraries in the evenings or early
  in the morning.
• There is the need to de-emphasize dress mode as
  the cause of these types of gender based violence
  and focus more on the fundamental factors that
  have been identified in the study.

18
Recommendations Contd.

• The university should make concerted efforts to
  establish a system of investigation and
  punishment of perpetrators of sexual harassment
  and rape.
• Groups and agencies in the society should be
  involved in providing adequate accommodation for
  students
• Victims should be encouraged to talk about their
  experiences