HOW IS FOREIGN AID ADDRESSING EDUCATION AND SEXUAL EXPLOITATION, ABUSE AND HARASSMENT (SEAH) AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA IN THIS PAN
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Portsmouth
Department Name: Sch of Area Stud, Hist, Politics & Lit
Abstract
HOW IS FOREIGN AID ADDRESSING EDUCATION AND SEXUAL EXPLOITATION, ABUSE AND HARASSMENT (SEAH) AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA IN THIS PANDEMIC ERA? New Evidence from Nigeria
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. To what extent is foreign aid helping to combat SEAH against women and girls in Nigeria in the Covid-19 pandemic era? And are there differences in the impact of foreign aid on SEAH Against Women and Girls before and during the pandemic?
2. In what ways are cultural practices promoting/tolerating sexual abuse, leading to the disempowerment of women in Nigeria in the Covid-19 Pandemic era?
3. Does access to education reduce the likelihood of girls getting sexually abused in Nigeria? And Is the empowerment of women counterproductive in the fight against SEAH in Nigeria?
4. What are the local solutions for dealing with the problem of sexual abuse in Nigeria?
BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY
Reports of violence and sexual abuse against women and girls around the world during the Covid-19 pandemic has been on the rise since the outbreak in 2020. According to UNWomen (2020), one in three women worldwide experience physical or sexual violence mostly by an intimate partner, and this has worsened due to the pandemic. Many reports including United Nations (2021), OECD (2021), and UNwomen (2020) maintain that almost half of all women reported that they or a woman they know began to experience gender-based violence during the pandemic across 13 countries. Thus, these reports have shown that all types of violence and sexual abuse against women and girls have intensified since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is so bad that the act has now been tagged as the shadow pandemic or the neglected pandemic UNWomen (2020).
Authors such as Yenilmez (2020), and reports from UN|Sexual Violence in Conflict, (2020) UNFPA, (2020), and UNWomen (2020) maintain that restrictions being placed to curtail the rise of Covid-19 is aiding the rise of all types of gender-based violence, and these further mounts more pressure on medical facilities. This begs the question of how the Covid-19 pandemic is changing the effectiveness of strategies deployed to end SEAH which presents an opportunity to reassess the effectiveness of the bilateral official development assistance which began in 2016, towards ending SEAH Against Women and Girls captured under the ODA reporting sector purpose code 15180. However, the extent to which this financial assistance has helped to reduce SEAH has not been explored in literature, especially in this Covid-19 era. Although the role of ODA in Sub-Saharan Africa has been a controversial topic, the recipients have continued to admonish it as a viable source of funds to solve problems that they would not have had the required resources to combat. Nonetheless, continued reliance on ODA especially in the fight against SEAH may not be the best as there is no guarantee of continuous flow thus, there is a need for local solutions as well, which is also a part of the objectives to be addressed in this proposal
Despite there being a plethora of literature on sexual abuse against women and girls around the world, only a few research papers have addressed how the Covid-19 pandemic is affecting the fight against it. Many papers done are literature-based due to the difficulty of obtaining data during the lockdown, coupled with the fact that there is no current data on demographic and health surveys. Thus, this present research may be the first research to attempt to expand this topic further by incorporating the effectiveness of ODA towards ending SEAH in Sub-Saharan Africa
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. To what extent is foreign aid helping to combat SEAH against women and girls in Nigeria in the Covid-19 pandemic era? And are there differences in the impact of foreign aid on SEAH Against Women and Girls before and during the pandemic?
2. In what ways are cultural practices promoting/tolerating sexual abuse, leading to the disempowerment of women in Nigeria in the Covid-19 Pandemic era?
3. Does access to education reduce the likelihood of girls getting sexually abused in Nigeria? And Is the empowerment of women counterproductive in the fight against SEAH in Nigeria?
4. What are the local solutions for dealing with the problem of sexual abuse in Nigeria?
BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY
Reports of violence and sexual abuse against women and girls around the world during the Covid-19 pandemic has been on the rise since the outbreak in 2020. According to UNWomen (2020), one in three women worldwide experience physical or sexual violence mostly by an intimate partner, and this has worsened due to the pandemic. Many reports including United Nations (2021), OECD (2021), and UNwomen (2020) maintain that almost half of all women reported that they or a woman they know began to experience gender-based violence during the pandemic across 13 countries. Thus, these reports have shown that all types of violence and sexual abuse against women and girls have intensified since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is so bad that the act has now been tagged as the shadow pandemic or the neglected pandemic UNWomen (2020).
Authors such as Yenilmez (2020), and reports from UN|Sexual Violence in Conflict, (2020) UNFPA, (2020), and UNWomen (2020) maintain that restrictions being placed to curtail the rise of Covid-19 is aiding the rise of all types of gender-based violence, and these further mounts more pressure on medical facilities. This begs the question of how the Covid-19 pandemic is changing the effectiveness of strategies deployed to end SEAH which presents an opportunity to reassess the effectiveness of the bilateral official development assistance which began in 2016, towards ending SEAH Against Women and Girls captured under the ODA reporting sector purpose code 15180. However, the extent to which this financial assistance has helped to reduce SEAH has not been explored in literature, especially in this Covid-19 era. Although the role of ODA in Sub-Saharan Africa has been a controversial topic, the recipients have continued to admonish it as a viable source of funds to solve problems that they would not have had the required resources to combat. Nonetheless, continued reliance on ODA especially in the fight against SEAH may not be the best as there is no guarantee of continuous flow thus, there is a need for local solutions as well, which is also a part of the objectives to be addressed in this proposal
Despite there being a plethora of literature on sexual abuse against women and girls around the world, only a few research papers have addressed how the Covid-19 pandemic is affecting the fight against it. Many papers done are literature-based due to the difficulty of obtaining data during the lockdown, coupled with the fact that there is no current data on demographic and health surveys. Thus, this present research may be the first research to attempt to expand this topic further by incorporating the effectiveness of ODA towards ending SEAH in Sub-Saharan Africa
Organisations
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ES/P000673/1 | 01/10/2017 | 30/09/2027 | |||
| 2774529 | Studentship | ES/P000673/1 | 01/10/2023 | 30/09/2026 | Sixtus Onyekwere |