Attitudes toward rape among Nigerian young adults: the role of gender, parental family structure and religiosity

Abstract

Previous studies that examined the influence of demographic factors on attitudes towards rape yielded mixed results in various settings. This study built on these studies by investigating the influence of gender, parental family structure and religiosity on attitudes toward rape among young adults in Nigeria. The Attitudes Toward Rape and the Behavioural Religiosity scales were responded to by 320 young adults (128 males, 192 females) in Ibadan. Three hypotheses were tested with the independent group t-test. Attitudes of young adults toward rape was found to be different based on gender and parental family structure; male young adults had more positive attitudes toward rape than their female counterparts (t = 2.02, df = 318, p < .05); youth from polygamous family reported positive attitudes toward rape than those from monogamous family (t = -2.44, df = 310, p < .05). This study suggests that gender-based sexuality education can play an important role in providing information and prevention regarding rape; and that young adults from polygamous family should be the target populations for such programmes in Nigeria.

Key words: Attitudes towards rape, gender, parental family structure, religiosity