1.1 Introduction
Child abuse is called cruelty to children; the willful infliction of pain and suffering on children through physical, sexual or emotional mistreatment. Prior to the term, child abuse normally referred to only physical mistreatment but since then, its application has expanded to include, in addition to inordinate physical violence, unjustifiable verbal abuse, the failure to furnish proper shelter, nourishment, medical treatment or emotional support. Child abuse can also be seen as the crime of harming a child in a physical, sexual or emotional way. Child abuse is also any illness, impairment or abnormal condition that affects primarily infants and children e.g. those in the age span that begins with the fetus and extends through adolescence.
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
Nigeria, the most populous black nation in the world with an estimated population of about 140 million people (2006, Census), is endowed with abundant human and natural resources like oil, tin, limestone, zinc, natural gas, good vegetation and climate which varies from being equatorial in the South, tropical in the centre and arid in the north. This great country, 3rd world largest producer of crude oil has about 5.3% annual growth rate but it is estimated that 70% of Nigerians live in poverty (Tola, 2008).
The above features are legacies of decades prolonged military rules coupled with mis-management and corruption, which have daily impoverished the people and made them “beggars” of a sort amdist plenty. This act of misrule has increased anti-social behaviour amongst the populace. Sadly, the quest for material wealth at all cost has introduced a new dimension of wealth creation into the psyche of Nigerians-which is child trafficking. Child trafficking is the third largest criminal activity in the world after arms and drug trafficking (Tola, 2008).
In the last decade, the phenomenon of child trafficking has considerably increased throughout the world and most especially in Nigeria. Every year, millions of individuals, mostly children are misled by decot or forced to submit to servitude. The UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (2000) defined child trafficking as follows: “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, of abuse of power, giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person for the purpose of exploitation” “exploitation shall include at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar or slavery, servitude or the removal of organs”.
ANPPCAN (2010) sees child trafficking as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of children by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power a position of vulnerability or the giving or receiving of payments, benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over the child for the purpose of exploitation. Research evidence shows that children are trafficked for the purpose of domestic services, prostitution and other forms of exploitative labour (UNICEF, 2007). These has been a serious concern about the cause of child trafficking in African as a whole and Nigeria as a country in particular.
UNICEF (2007) has identified poverty, large family size, rapid urbanization among others as the major factor why many Nigeria children are vulnerable to trafficking. Parent with large family are often prone to those traffickers deceit in giving away some of their children to city residents or even strangers promising a better life for them. Trafficking deprives child victims the privilege to exercise their wide range of rights, including the right to belong and identify, the right to freedom, education among others. ANPPCAN (2010). As a result of this, the study on the causes, effects, and remedies of child trafficking in Nigeria is worth pursing. It is hoped that the findings of this study will provide meaningful information as to the stoppage of the act in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.
Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Influence of Child Abuse and Trafficking on the Academic Performance of Primary School Pupils.
1.3 Statement of Problems
Investigation revealed that children living in rural areas in Nigeria often lack access to quality education, good health and other basic needs which make their parents to entrust them in the hands of other family members who are financially upright to help them train their children.
It is impossible to ever reach a consensus on the true scale of the problem but, regardless of the figures, what matters is that human trafficking is big and getting bigger. What matters is that every numbers represents a human life destroyed. it is happening on every continent and in almost every country: whether the place we live is a source, destination or transit point for trafficking, none of us can claim to be wholly unaffected by this crime.
One of the biggest impediments to anti-trafficking efforts is a lack of understanding of the issue. Trafficking, and consequently, the measures taken to combat it, is often entangled with people smuggling, immigration and asylum, prostitution and other forms of organized crime. It must be emphasized that the essence of trafficking is the forced exploitation of individuals by those in the position to exert power over them.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to investigate the Influence of Child Abuse and Trafficking on the Academic Performance of Primary School Pupils. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To determine the impact of child abuse and trafficking on the child’s academic performance;
- To determine the relationship between child abuse, child trafficking and crime;
- To examine the causes of child abuse and trafficking in Nigeria;
- To analyze the effects of child abuse and trafficking in Nigeria, socially, politically and economically; and
- To proffer solutions to the problems of child trafficking in Nigeria.
1.5 Research Questions
The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:
- Is there any significant relationship between child abuse, child trafficking and crime?
- Is there any factor instigating child abuse and trafficking in the area under study?
- Does peer influence positively promote child trafficking?
- What is the relationship between poverty and child trafficking?
- In what ways can child abuse and trafficking be controlled?
- How does child abuse and trafficking affect the academic performance of the children involved?
- What are the roles of parents and government in curbing the menace?
1.6 Research Hypothesis
In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.
Hypothesis One
- H0: There are no significant roles played by parents and government in curbing the menace of child abuse and trafficking
- H1: There are significant roles played by parents and government in curbing the menace of child abuse and trafficking
1.7 Significance of Study
This study will be of great importance, as it will provide necessary information on the causes, effect and remedies to child trafficking in Nigeria. It will also provide further research in combating trafficking in Nigeria.
The study will also be useful for further researches into child trafficking within and outside the country. Thus enhancing step to preventing human trafficking and prosecuting the traffickers is therefore to recognize the complexity of the crime which cannot be tackled in a vacuum. Anti-trafficking strategies have to be embedded in every policy area, from improving female education. In source countries so that girls are less vulnerable to trafficking to increasing police pay in destination countries so that officers are less susceptible to bribery.
This study will be of immense benefit to other researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.
1.8 Scope of Study
The scope of this research is focused on the Influence of Child Abuse and Trafficking on the Academic Performance of Primary School Pupils using Esan South-East Local Government in Edo State as a case study.
1.9 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
1.10 Definition of Terms
The following terms were used during this study.
Child: A young boy or girl who is not at the age of adult
Trafficking: The recruitment, transfer, harbouring, or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation
Child abuse: The crime of harming a child in a physical, sexual or emotional way.
