THE RELATION BETWEEN UNEMPLOYMENT AND RAPE IN IKWERRE LOCAL GOVERNMENT

This study was carried out on the relationship between unemployment and rape in Ikwerre Local Government Area. To achieve this 3 research questions were formulated. The survey design was adopted and the simple random sampling techniques were employed in this study. The population size comprise of selected residents of the Ikwerre local government area. In determining the sample size, the researcher conveniently selected 266 residents while 260 were returned and validated. Self-constructed and validated questionnaire was used for data collection. The collected and validated questionnaires were analyzed using standard deviation. The result of the findings reveals that relationship between unemployment and cases of rape in Ikwerre local government area are: Economic Stress and Frustration, Increased Vulnerability of Victims, Reduced Access to Education and Gender Inequality and Power Dynamics. The factors that may link unemployment to the occurrence of rape in Ikwerre local government area are: Economic Stress and Disempowerment, Social Marginalization, Increased Vulnerability of Victims and Lack of Law Enforcement and Legal. The study recommended to Implement community-based education programs to raise awareness about the consequences of rape and the importance of preventing it and Promote economic empowerment programs to reduce unemployment rates. This may include vocational training, skill development, and entrepreneurship initiatives