REVIEW AND CONTENT ANALYSIS OF RAPE CASES PUBLISHED IN SELECTED NIGERIAN NEWSPAPERS FROM JANUARY TO DECEMBER, 2017

Abstract

Rape is a criminal sexual act of public health concern worldwide. Accurate statistics relating to the prevalence of the phenomenon are scarce in Nigeria. Major Nigerian newspapers constitute a common source of information about rape; however, the analysis of rape cases published in these newspapers has not been fully conducted. This study was, therefore, designed to review and analyse rape cases published in selected major Nigerian Newspapers from January 1st to December 31st, 2017. This research was a retrospective study involving a simple random sampling of rape cases in the following four Nigerian Newspapers namely: Daily Sun, the Guardian, Nigerian Tribune and the Vanguard. A validated content analysis guide was used for the secondary data collection which included themes from the set specific objectives which are the frequency, socio-demographic characteristics, placement, disclosure of identity of survivors and perpetrators, typology, context, burden of rape experienced, techniques, actions initiated by rape survivors’ and others and identity of individuals and agencies that initiated actions against perpetrators of rape. Descriptive statistics and content analysis were used to analyse the data. Survivors’ mean age was 13.6±11.9 years with most (94.1%) being females and students/pupils (70.8%). Perpetrators’ mean age was 35.1±15.3 years with nearly all (99.6%) of them being males. Neighbours (22.9%) and acquaintances (20.5%) topped the list of perpetrators of rape. Few survivors’ names (7.0%) were revealed in the newspapers while 61.6% of the names of perpetrators was reported. The typology of rape included elderly rape (1.9%), male rape (5.0%) and child rape (50.8%). Majority (70.0%) of survivors experienced multiple episodes of rape. Slightly over half (50.8%) of the cases of rape occurred in residential houses while 40.0% of the cases occurred at night. Physical adverse effect (88.2%), death (20.6%) and abortion (2.9%) were some of the adverse consequences experienced by survivors. Deception (37.6%) was the major technique employed by reporting to significant others (57.1%), screaming (21.4%) and reporting to the Police (1.2%). Most (91.5%) of the actions taken on behalf of the survivors were initiated by the Police. The health-seeking behavior of the survivors included visit to healthcare facilities (96.4%) and patronage of spiritual homes (3.6%). Children and adolescents constituted the majority of the rape survivors reported in the Nigerian daily newspapers and the perpetrators were majorly people known to the survivors. Varying degrees of adverse consequences were associated with experienced rape. Newspapers have pivotal roles to play in putting the incidence of rape on the national agenda for action. The capacity of journalists in Newspaper houses should therefore, be enhanced to ensure appropriate and accurate documentation of rape cases. perpetrators in facilitating the perpetration of rape. The actions taken by survivors included