Social perceptions of sextortion as a gendered crime in Benin City, Edo state, Nigeria

This study investigates citizenry perceptions of sextortion as a gendered crime under Nigerian laws in Benin City, Edo State. Sextortion has major socio-cultural and criminological implications and is based on the process of coercive sexual exploitation involving a power imbalance. Using feminist criminology and ecological systems theories, this paper examines the particular cultural settings and structural injustices which enable sextortion, along with how social work can contribute to dealing with victimization. Resulting from these two theories, the research looks into the social settings and structural injustices enabling sextortion and the interventions of social work on that violence. The result shows that sextortion thrives due to a number of factors, including policy enforcement inefficiencies, victims's fear of reprisal, economic hardships, and societal closure on anything to do with sexuality. Also, it was revealed that social work interventions, such as lobbying, victim support schemes, and campaigns for policy reform, weigh heavily in the battle against sextortion. The study proposed that social workers be integrated into the law enforcement agencies so as to improve reporting as well as response to cases. Some of the other matters the study dwells on include the need for legislative overhaul and cultural-specific social work interventions for the eradication of sextortion.