Date of Conferral

2023

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Policy and Administration

Advisor

Ernesto Escobedo

Abstract

The Boko Haram asymmetric insurgency and warfare have decimated the Northeastern region of Nigeria and its neighboring environs of Chad, Niger, and Benin. The purpose of this study was to explore the peculiar socioethnic and cultural challenges encountered by female victims of Boko Haram terrorism at internally displaced persons camps in Abuja, Nigeria, including challenges in functioning, relocating, and acclimating back into society. A phenomenological approach was applied to understand participants’ lived experiences. Data collection occurred through interviews and observation. Data analysis involved the synthesis of narratives, and generation of themes. Among the emergent themes were poor feeding; lack of economic opportunities; lack of female empowerment; increased mortality rate; transformation of women into cheap wives for men in surrounding communities; rape and survival sex; physical, mental, and gender-based violence; and equal participation. IDP women are a microcosm of Nigerian women; as such, the study provides insight on the broader condition of women in Nigeria and whether their functionality or productivity is dependent on the phenomenon of war or transcends it. The study’s implications for positive social change include providing information that policy makers and other stakeholders can potentially use to improve Nigerian women’s standard of living, provide security and opportunities for skills acquisition, and most especially, create implementable structures, legalistic frameworks and policies that promote sustainably entrenched women empowerment initiatives.

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