Abstract:

Sexual Harassment is a significant concern among students. This study offered a quantitative and qualitative description of the knowledge and attitude of female nursing students towards sexual harassment in Federal University Otuoke, Bayelsa State, Nigeria. The study answers three research questions; a) What is the level of knowledge of female nursing students in Federal University Otuoke on sexual harassment? b) What is the attitude of female nursing students of Federal University Otuoke towards sexual harassment? c) What are the social factors responsible for the exposure of female nursing students in Federal University Otuoke to sexual harassment? The study made use of a frequency table converted to a percentage to analyze data. The research design that was adopted in this study was a descriptive survey. The Taro-yamane formula of 1967 was used to get an accurate sampling size. Sampling method adopted was stratified-type random technique. The findings powerfully revealed that female nurses in the University, in Otuoke, have a positive knowledge towards sexual harassment, but their attitude towards it calls for concern. It is imperative for student nurses to utilize the knowledge they have gained from lectures, seminars attended, workshop experiences, conferences and journals to ensure that the issue of sexual harassment is reduced to the barest minimum. Educational programs must be organized to keep empowering student nurses against being victims of sexual harassment. It is recommended that support and counseling services should be provided for nursing students that reports to be a victim of sexual harassment.