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Silence And Disclosure: Rethinking Communication And Power In Addressing Child Sexual Abuse In Nigeria

John OA, Abubakar S, Bello A · 21 Sept 2026

Abstract

Abstract Child sexual abuse (CSA) remains one of Nigeria's most pervasive yet chronically underreported crises shaped by interlocking pressures of gender norms, cultural practice, and institutional weakness. This study examines how communication shapes discourse, perception, and disclosure of CSA among secondary school students in Abuja. Drawing on Foucauldian discourse theory, feminist frameworks, and participatory development communication, it uses a convergent mixed-methods design comprising surveys of 420 students, 12 focus group discussions, and 10 key informant interviews. The findings are revealing. Institutional communication is overwhelmingly top-down and monologic, leaving students without safe spaces for disclosure or meaningful participation. Silence surrounding CSA in these institutions is beyond a cultural artifact; it is structurally produced through power relations embedded in gender hierarchies, institutional inertia, and communicative systems that exclude children's voices. Girls face heightened vulnerability due to entrenched expectations of modesty and compliance, while boys encounter a different but equally powerful barrier, stigma anchored in hegemonic masculinity. Digital platforms have further expanded the terrain of CSA beyond physical school environments. Crucially, this study contributes something absent from most prior Nigerian research: the evidence that institutional failure under-trained teachers, absent reporting protocols, and underfunded counselling is as powerful a producer of silence as cultural taboo, and that children's silence is situational and changeable rather than fixed. The study recommends a transition from awareness-driven communication to dialogic, child-centred approaches, comprehensive sexuality education, and institutionally accountable reporting mechanisms.