THE INCREASING RATE OF SEXUAL ABUSE OF WOMEN AND THE GIRL-CHILD BY SOME PASTORS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The study examines some prevalent sexual abuse of women and the girl child among some pastors in Nigeria. Sexual abuse has become a major concern in some churches and has given rise to a lot of debate as to the role of pastors in evaluating the plight of the masses in Nigerian society. Churches may grow as a direct result of poverty and joblessness. Some pastors falsely proclaim themselves to be prophets while engaging in dishonest and immoral practices. The bulk of the followers and devotees of these male religious leaders are female. They exploit ignorant women who are faced with a lot of problems. Some of these pastors claim to be carrying out God’s instructions by calling for deliverance for women and children from demons and evil spirits. While some women were asked to sleep with them in the bid to become pregnant with children, others are duped of their hard-earned money for prayers and spiritual cleans. The paper employed a historical descriptive and analytical method, drawing materials from secondary sources; the secondary source has to do with both published and unpublished materials from the library, books, journals, newspapers, the internet etc. The paper recommends and concludes that there is a need for the government to put in place regulatory bodies to monitor the activities of these pastors and their churches.