INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AS INSTRUMENT FOR MOBILIZATION AGAINST GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE: A STUDY OF OWERRI WEST LGA RESIDENCE

Abstract

This study evaluated the influence of social media as instrument for mobilization against gender-based violence in an era of digital transformation. Gender-based violence is any form of violence directed towards a person based on gender. This study was anchored on media framing theory which suggests the way an issue such as gender-based violence is presented by the media such as the social media influences and how the public perceive and understand it. The researchers adopted a survey research method and used Taro Yamane sample size formula to arrive at a sample size of 399 that was drawn from the population of 143,400 people who are residence of Owerri west local government area of Imo State. The researchers administered 399 copies of the questionnaire using face to face availability technique and retrieve 350 copies while the remaining 49 copies were unusable. The retrieved copies were analyzed using frequency and percentage tables. From the data analyzed, it was deduced that majority of the respondents are females and these respondents made use of social media for their information dissemination and gathering. Respondents’ responses also showed that Facebook and Twitter were their most preferred social media for information gathering. The findings further revealed that those campaigns against gender-based violence are done on social media as respondents indicated they have seen such on Twitter and Facebook more. The researchers further recommended that governments should implement a massive public sensitization and reorientation program to educate their citizens on the negative effects of gender-based violence, encourage victims to speak out and provide them with the necessary support to leave abusive relationships.