“How do I tell the story?”: Exploring sexual harassment and victimization among male students in Nigerian universities

The paper investigated the phenomenon of sexual harassment in tertiary institutions in Nigeria. It however differs from the well-trodden path of perceiving sexual harassment as limited to the female gender. Sexual harassment is an old phenomenon that has ravaged societies and institutions for decades but has not yet been fully comprehended as a problem afflicting both genders in the society. Conventionally, sexual harassment was perceived as tool used by men to exhibit dominance over women. Incidentally, the paper utilizing qualitative methods of study discovered that even men (mainly male students and men in lower positions in organizations) experienced sexual harassment at one point or another in their lives. It also found out that these experiences are hardly reported or investigated. This situation derives mainly from the patriarchal nature of the African society where men are not socialized to express their pains and emotions openly as the society sees men as the stronger gender. In view of the foregoing, the paper makes a strong case for the utilization of social work approach among other strategies in tackling the problems faced by these silent victims of sexual harassment in tertiary institutions.