VIOLENCE AGAINST YOUNG WOMEN IN INFORMAL CROSS-BORDER TRADING IN SOUTH-WEST NIGERIA: IMPLICATIONS FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND POVERTY REDUCTION
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Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria
Abstract
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Nigerian women, through history, actively participate in the social, economic and political
development of their societies. This is particularly true of women in southern Nigeria, especially
Yoruba women. Women traders working in the informal sector are often subject to harassment
and extortion at the border. These constraints undermine their economic activities. Women are
more readily denied access to key trader networks than men. Time-consuming trade procedures
and documentary requirements impinge more heavily on women, given the time they need for
their household duties. And women working to produce exportable goods and services are
typically less able than men to get the inputs and materials that would raise their productivity
and allow them to compete better in overseas markets. A major setback for women in crossborder
trade is violence. This ranges from rape and other forms of sexual abuse, theft, robbery to
seizure of goods. This paper therefore, examined the incidence of violence against young women
in informal cross-border trading in South- West Nigeria and its implications for economic
development and poverty reduction, relying purely on secondary sources of data and relevant
sociological theories. Findings in this project will bring to the fore, the constraints to the success
of economic activities of young women and the effects on wealth creation and poverty reduction
in South-West, Nigeria.
Keywords
HM Sociology