PREVALENCE OF BABY FACTORY IN NIGERIA: AN EMERGENT FORM OF CHILD ABUSE, TRAFFICKING AND MOLESTATION OF WOMEN (Published)
Baby factory which serves as an avenue for human trafficking predisposes women of childbearing-age, expectant mothers and the child to ineffable trauma, violence and abuse. Thus, the aim of this study is to examine the recurrent nature of child abuse and trafficking and molestation of women in Nigeria occurring in those places the media has termed ‘baby factory’ with a view to providing preventative approaches for curbing the menace, using counselling as a tool. The study utilised a descriptive survey in which 800 respondents (teachers and principals) in secondary schools were randomly drawn from 3 south-east states. Data was collected using a 25-item questionnaire (0.85α) constructed on four-point likert-type scale. Result shows that the leading causes of baby factory in Nigeria include poverty, childlessness, lack of ethical behaviour on the part of medical professionals, and greed among others. It further shows that there is no significant difference in the mean responses of teachers and principals on the causes of prevalence of baby factory in Nigeria, F(1, 799) = 16.66, p = .75. Providing preventative counselling, developing positive self image in the youth, and providing family counselling for childless couples by encouraging them to go for proper adoption at the social welfare and to seek advanced medical care were found to be among the major roles guidance counsellors could play in curbing the prevalence of baby factory in Nigeria. The finding also shows that there is no significant difference in the mean responses of teachers and principals on the roles of guidance counsellors in curbing the prevalence of baby factory in Nigeria, F(1, 799) = 4.95, p = .55. The conclusion and recommendations in this article were based on these findings
Keywords: Baby factory, Child abuse, Child trafficking, Counselling, Nigeria, Women