Sexual harassment of unemployed Female Graduates in Southwest Nigeria

Abstract

Unemployment remains one of the major problems affecting Nigeria with an estimated 23.1million Nigerians unemployed as at the fourth quarter of 2020. When disaggregated, a clearer picture of the proportion of unemployed females is revealed; raising the need to examine their job search experiences in relation to sexual harassment and exploitation. While studies have established sexual harassment in workplaces, knowledge on this phenomenon is scarce in relation to the experiences of female graduates still in the labour market looking for jobs. To fill this lacuna, we examined the experiences of 30 purposively selected unemployed female graduates undertaking Master Degree programs at the University of Ibadan. Findings show that participants reported sexual demands, harassment and exploitation from prospective employers, panel of interviewers (mostly male dominated) and top management staff of organizations in which participants are prospecting for job. While some desperately exchange sex for jobs, others turned down the requests and reported they were not employed.