Perception of victims of rape and perception of gender social roles among college students in Southwest Nigeria: validation of a 5-item gender scale

Abstract

Abstract Our study focused on the perception of victims of rape and the relationship with the perception of social roles for gender among college students in southwest Nigeria using a 5-item gender social scale and a perception of victims of rape questionnaire. The study was done among 312 college students in Southwest Nigeria and explored the perception of victims of rape and gender social roles. The aim was to determine the relationship between perception of rape victims and view of gender social roles. We used a perception of rape victims questionnaire and a validated 5-item gender social roles scale to assess the views of participants. The findings revealed that females had better perception of victims of rape than males. Females also had more positive views of females’ social roles involving gender. However, there was poor perception on work-related social roles and the traditional concept of headship in the varied situations described on the 5-item gender social scale. Old stereotypes of typically blaming victims of rape were not common beliefs among college students. There were no significant correlations between perception of victims of rape and perception of gender social roles among college students. Seemingly, the perception of victims of rape does not have a significant relationship with the concept of gender social roles.