Safeguarding Students and Young Adults in Nigerian Tertiary Institutions: An Evaluation of the Gender Justice Project

Sexual harassment and abuse (SHA) in Nigerian Tertiary Educational Institutions has been a persistent issue, contributing to a rise in gender-based violence and creating an atmosphere of fear among students. The 2019 BBC documentary ‘Sex for Grades: Undercover in West African Universities’ revealed the alarming prevalence of SHA, prompting significant public and legislative attention. Unfortunately, the success was only short-lived, as the menace found its way back into the educational systems but reinforced her zest at concealing acts of SHAs, which made detection challenging. In response, the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation, with support from the Ford Foundation, launched the Gender Justice Project (GJP) to develop and implement standardized safeguarding policies to prevent SHAs and promote gender justice in tertiary institutions across Nigeria. This paper analyses the effectiveness of safeguard policies and mechanisms as deterrents to SHAs at universities, using the American University of Nigeria as a case study. It employs the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) and the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework to analyze the development and impact of the GJP at the American University of Nigeria (AUN). The ACF highlights the role of coalitions of stakeholders with shared beliefs in driving policy change, while the IAD framework focuses on the institutional arrangements and rules that govern decision-making processes. Using an explorative and participatory method, this study evaluated the effectiveness of safeguarding measures implemented at the AUN under the GJP. Despite the University’s perception of having strong policies in place, data collected from students and young adults revealed significant gaps in policy effectiveness. This analysis provides insights into the collaborative efforts and institutional changes required to enhance safeguarding policies. We make recommendations based on the GJP findings, including the application of anticorruption laws to prosecute SHA cases as corrupt practices.