Perception of Social Media Sexual Violence Contents on Culture of Silence among Female Youths in Ibadan Metropolis

Abstract

The continued existence and growth of sexual violence which affects
females has become a great menace as it doesn’t discriminate against
religion, race, age, or gender. Its growth is backed up by a culture of
silence which gives the perpetrators an edge over the victims and it is
fueled by groups of people who by unspoken agreement decide not to
talk about being assaulted or abused. It has caused a divide among
individuals who have come across campaigns such as #MeToo, and
#SaySorry which have helped in creating awareness, and others who
feel they don’t have a voice or have the power to do anything to mitigate
assault among female youths. Therefore, this study examined female
youth’s level of awareness and social media content's impact on their
attitudes, perceptions, and behaviours toward breaking the culture of
silence. The study was anchored on Spiral of Silence theory. The study
adopted the simple random sampling method and employed a
questionnaire for data gathering. The sample consisted of 400
respondents from Ibadan Metropolis selected through purposive
random sampling techniques. Findings show that the majority of the
respondents (89.1%) consistently make use of social media. Other
findings showed that Female youths in Ibadan Metropolis recognise the
importance of speaking up, despite the societal, familial, and legal
barriers that exist. The study concluded that there was a significant
negative relationship found between the awareness of social media sexual violence content and the culture of silence. From the findings, several recommendations were proposed.