The effects of rape on the young girls in Ikorodu, Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

Rape is a harmful and monstrous act, which has become prevalent in the Nigerian society. There has been an outcry against young girls’ rape in Nigeria,  which has attracted the attention of, not only the government and non-governmental organizations in Nigeria, but rate of rape in Ikorodu was increasing  as a result of violent criminal gang called ‘Badoo’ cult gang and other criminal groups’ activities. Hence, the study aims to examine the characteristics, the  causes and the effects of rape on the young girls in Ikorodu, Lagos State. Using explorative research design, which relied on in-depth interviews and  other secondary sources, the study reached the respondents through multi-sampling techniques such as purposive and simple random sampling. The  paper is anchored on social disorganization theory as its theoretical underpinning. The findings revealed that the causes of rape are many which include  cultism, ritual purposes, drug addiction and alcoholism, disease sharing, revenge purposes, indecent dressing, pride, poverty/unemployment and  disappointment in relationships. Among the measures recommended by the paper is that there should be adequate security street light, police patrol  and proper counseling by the parents as it concerns girl child.