SEXUAL SLAVERY IN NIGERIA: A REFLECTION ON EKANEM IKPEME’S HURTING IN THE INSIDE

The question of male dominance and the consequent oppression of the female folk by the male folk predate written history. In this paper, we have tried to examine the manipulative and exploitative tendencies of adult males over female children and the negative effects of this on the psyche of the victims in their daily interactions with their peers and other adults in their respective families in particular and the society at large. Using the feminist theory in Ekanem Ikpeme‟s Hurting in the Inside as a template, the paper explores the survival strategy adopted by a female child to surmount the obstacles on her way to self esteem, self-fulfillment, selfassertion and self-actualization in a patriarchal society that is programmed to devalue her worth.