Prevalence, pattern, and perception of female undergraduates about sexual harassment in a tertiary institution in southwestern Nigeria: An evaluation of the national bill on sexual harassment

Abstract

Background: A current national bill on sexual harassment proposes jail terms for failure to investigate and prosecute the offenders of sexual harassment at Nigerian colleges and universities. Aim: The study aimed to effectively evaluate the impacts of the new bill, we assessed the current prevalence rates and pattern of sexual harassment among female undergraduates in Southwestern, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: Data were obtained from 420 respondents in a cross‑sectional study design. We included female aged 18 years and above and excluded students in their first year. Data were obtained using a self‑administered questionnaire and analysed using IBM SPSS version 28. Multivariate analysis was done to identify the predictors of sexual harassment. Results: The prevalence of sexual harassment was 48.2% among participants, and the highest perpetrators of harassment were victims’ boyfriends. The common patterns of harassment experienced by respondents include sexual jokes or stories that were insulting or offensive (44.7%), brushing of body parts in an unwelcomed manner (27.8%), and persistent demand for sex by lecturers or students (20.6%) among others. After controlling for possible confounders, the odds of sexual harassment was 0.604 times (95% confidence interval: 0.388–0.942) less likely among students in higher academic years (i.e., 400 and 500 levels) compared to those in lower academic years (200 and 300 levels). Conclusion: The high prevalence of sexual harassment in our study indicates that southwestern universities are yet to meet the goals of the national bill. Institutions of higher learning are urged to discourage societal tolerance for sexual harassment by enforcing sexual harassment prevention regulations in the national bill.