PREVALENCE OF SEXUAL ABUSE AMONG THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED YOUNG ADULTS AND ADULTS IN OYO STATE

Abstract

Sexual abuse is any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, unwanted sexual comments, or acts to traffic or otherwise directed against a persons’ sexuality using coercion, by any person regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting. Previous studies show that disability is one of the major factors for vulnerability to sexual abuse; this study therefore assessed the prevalence of sexual abuse among visually impaired young adults and adults in Oyo state. Three hundred and thirty five respondents were recruited in this study. Hence, the total population was used due to small sample size. A validated interviewer administered questionnaire was used to obtain information, descriptive and Chi-square statistics were used to analyze data obtained. The participants’ ages ranged from 16- 57 years with a mean age of males at 27.4±9.2 and females at 23.12±7.13 years. A greater proportion were Christians (65.7%) with majority been females (61.2%); 59.1% reported to have been sexually abused while 40.9 were not. Prevalence of sexual abuse among the participants by age group were as follows: 16-19 years (28.7%); 25-34 years (11.6%); 20-24years (10.1%);35-49 years (0.9%) and 50-64years(0.6%). Sexual abuse was found more among females (73.2%) than males (36.9)%(p< 0.05). About a quarter (28.1%) reported to have been abused at school, 19.4% at home, 12.8% on the playground, at work (2.7%), in the church (2.1%) and mosque (1.2%). Majority of the females reported their perpetrator to be males (29.9%) while majority of the males reported their perpetrators to be females (11.0%). Majority of the survivors (76.6%) did not talk to anybody about the incident while(23.4% )did; of those who reported, the main people they talked to were; friend (6.9%); 0.6% an older person; family member(2.7%). Reasons for non-disclosure were lack of trust in the reporting process(31.9%); were fear of been badly treated(26.9%) ; not wanting to cause any trouble(22.7%);said they did not think it was serious enough to report(22.4%). Incident of sexual abuse is high among the visually impaired in Oyo state and the level of disclosure is low. Therefore there is a need to provide educational programs with the core goals of increasing sexual abuse awareness, prevention, providing support for survivors and holding perpetrators responsible for their actions.