Prostitution among Young Female Adults in Katsina State, Nigeria: Implication for Girl-child Education

Abstract

This study investigated Prostitution among Young Female Adults and Implication on Girl-child Education in Katsina State, Nigeria. The study was conducted using a researcher-designed structured questionnaire. It was administered to 260 young prostitutes in the three Senatorial Zones of the State targeting Katsina City, Daura and Malumfashi respectively and the respondents were selected through Snowballing (network sampling). Out of the total 260 questionnaires administered, 248 respondents successfully completed their copies and were used for the study. Data collected were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), IBM version 26. Statistical procedure used included frequencies and percentages, mean score and standard deviations which were computed along the four-point likert-like type scale with a benchmark of 2.50. Findings revealed that sex workers were relatively educated with at least primary education and have no other occupation aside sex work. It was found that poverty and unemployment were the major push factors for their involvement. The major modes of their operation were as Call girl or Escort and the use of brothel. The sex workers have adequate awareness of dangers inherent in sex work such as exposure to HIV/AIDs and other sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancy among others along with stigma associated with it. It was also found that sex workers held the view that they were financially better than their counterparts who were in school and were unwilling to leave the “occupation” because of the notion that their counterparts who were able to finished school with certificate could not get employment and that any education of the female child would probably end up in the kitchen. Financial dependence and stigmatization were identified as the major perceived challenges to any rehabilitation programme that may be mounted for them in the state. The study recommended that the level of awareness of the implications of prostitution should be heightened. There should be more enlightenment programmes by the National Orientation Agency, health-related institutes, NGOs, the media, schools, religious institutions, market and any other relevant and reliable medium of disseminating information especially in rural communities, emphasizing the negative effect of adolescent prostitution on the individual and the society at large, among others.