Relationship between Perceived Sexual Harassment and Female Students’ Social Adjustment in Tertiary Institutions of Bauchi State

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between perceived sexual harassment and female students’ social adjustment in tertiary institutions of Bauchi state. To accomplish this, two specific objectives and two research Hypothesis were formulated to guide the study. The study adopted correlational research design. The area of the study was Bauchi state of Nigeria. The population comprised of 22,382 female students in tertiary institutions of Bauchi state, the sample size was determined using research advisor table of sample size determination, where 378 respondents were selected purposively homogenous sample. The instrument for data collection was two different questionnaires. The data collection was analysed by using Pearson product moment correlation. The findings of the study revealed that there was a positive relationship between perceived sexual assault and female students’ social adjustment in tertiary institutions of Bauchi state and there was a positive relationship between perceived sexual touching and female students’ social adjustment in tertiary institutions of Bauchi state. The study recommended that government should put in place legal frame work to check all forms of sexual harassment while tertiary institutions should come up with zero tolerance policies for instance, tertiary institutions should have a clear policy that defines and explain the concept, different forms as well as sanctions for offenders and counselling units to be reawakened on this issue and to be trained to deal with it mounting of enlightenment campaign on sexual harassment, female students’ must learn to dress properly and avoid approaching their male counterparts in a seductive manner.