International Journal of Advanced Community Medicine
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International Journal of Advanced Community Medicine
Vol. 3, Issue 1, Part A (2020)

Listening to the narratives of students’ sexual exposures in selected tertiary institutions in Abia state of Nigeria

Author(s): EE Enwereji, MC Ezeama and KO Enwereji
Abstract: Background: Sexual violence is now increasingly practiced in many tertiary institutions in both developing and developed countries. There is need to listen to the students, especially from the perspectives of affected individuals on the types of sexual exposures they experience in tertiary institutions. This will assist researchers to package along with the students, relevant intervention strategies that will minimize the incidence of sexual violence in tertiary institutions.
Methods: Cross-sectional descriptive study using self-administered questionnaire on Students sexual behaviours was done. Three tertiary institutions, federal, state and private universities were randomly selected for study. Purposively, 30 participants were used in each university. Participants were selected to ensure maximum variation in age, gender and exposure. Narrative methods that considered how individuals’ sex, age and level of education shaped sexual exposures and experiences were used. To elucidate the practical and feasible steps that could minimize sexual violence among students, integrated narrative analysis grounded with feminist intersectional theory was used to obtain information from the students. This was done realizing that young people's faces, voices, thoughts, inputs, and creativity are useful in suggesting how to reduce sexual violence in tertiary institutions.
Findings: Results showed that in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture (MOUA), 5 (17%) and 4 (13%) of the students respectively practiced anal and oral sex. In ABSU, 2 (7%) and 5 (17%) respectively indulged in anal and oral sex while in Rhema, 8 (28.8%) and 7 (26%) respectively, gave narratives on their involvement in anal and oral sex. Also some students in the three universities narrated being involved in group sex, self- masturbation, Hetro-masturbation, and homosexual relations showing that probably, a good number of them had unprotected sex. The common reasons given for practicing other forms of sex apart from vaginal sex were: to prevent HIV&STIs, to avoid group sex, for quicker sexual satisfaction and to prevent pregnancy.
Conclusion: The study provides further evidence that in order to reduce sexual violence among youths in tertiary institutions, their views, inputs and creativity should be explored.
Pages: 15-21  |  1749 Views  604 Downloads
How to cite this article:
EE Enwereji, MC Ezeama, KO Enwereji. Listening to the narratives of students’ sexual exposures in selected tertiary institutions in Abia state of Nigeria. Int J Adv Community Med 2020;3(1):15-21. DOI: 10.33545/comed.2020.v3.i1a.109
International Journal of Advanced Community Medicine

International Journal of Advanced Community Medicine


International Journal of Advanced Community Medicine
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