NEWSPAPER REPORTAGE OF CHILD ABUSE CASES IN NIGERIA (A CASE STUDY OF ENUGU STATE) Abstract The newspapers as gender-setters have influence in ordering the course of events by framing issues around such events in certain ways. Such pattern of framing can attract attention and bring about desired response to such issues. It is in this regard that this paper, through content analysis research design, studied two Nigerian newspapers in order to understand the news environment in which child rights is portrayed and the consequences it has for the realization of the rights of the child. The finding shows that the current coverage of children\u2019s issues by the Nigerian newspapers may not deliver much benefits as regards the realisation of the rights of the child due to low coverage and inadequate prominence given to children, lack of good treatment of the issue with appropriate genres, as well as poor engagement of children themselves on issues that affect them. CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study There is no generally accepted definition for the term; child abuse; but it simply refers to the ill-treatment of a child by his parents or any other adult. Edu and Edu (1999) defined child abuse as a willful maltreatment of a child. Such maltreatment according to them can include acts of commission [abuse] and omission [neglect]. A narrow definition of child abuse is limited to life-threatening physical violence, including severe beatings which are inflicted on children by the adult members of the community. Olawale (1995) and Obidigbo (1999) defined child abuse and neglect as intentional , unintentional, and\/or well-intentional acts , which endanger the physical, health, emotional, moral, and educational welfare of the child. According to the African network for the prevention and protection against child abuse and neglect (Anppcan 1991), child abuse and neglect comprise any act of omission and commission by adults capable of causing the child physical and emotional trauma. Olawale (1995), Kanu (1996) and Obidigbo (1996) distinguished between child abuse and neglect. While child abuse consists of acts developed and commissioned to inflict harm directly or indirectly on a child, child neglect involves disregard to general needs of the child, which interfere with his\/her welfare and development. This means that any abusive or neglectful act or deed meted on any person under the age of eighteen is regarded as child abuse and neglect. A broader definition however lays emphasis on any treatment other than the most favorable care, and it includes neglect, sexual or emotional abuse and exploitation. Whichever way, child abuse is the flagrant abuse of the children\u2019s God-given and constitution-guaranteed freedom, comfort and peace, by adults in the society. In Nigeria, for example, the rights of citizens\u2019 basic and fundamental rights in chapters 4 section 30,40 of the 1999 constitution of the Federal republic of Nigeria guarantees every citizens\u2019 basic and fundamental human rights. Here, the constitution does not make any distinction between the rights of an adult and children. Thus, children are expected to enjoy these rights. News coverage may have influence on how the public and policy makers interpret and respond to social issues (Woodruff and Dorfman, 2001). To advocate effectively for policies that will improve child rights, advocates must be able to articulate a clear message that resonates with specific audiences. They have to make their case well, and make it publicly. This means they must understand the current public conversation regarding children and how they are being framed in the news. Similarly, if journalists are going to tell the story of children and their rights as they are debated by different stakeholders, they should know what parts of that discussion are being emphasized and which, if any, are being neglected. 1.2 Statement of Problem The underlying statement of problem for this study centres on three major aspects of child abuse cases within the context of newspapers. Firstly, this study examines the potential of Nigerian newspapers in creating awareness about child right, child sexual abuse and maltreatment through the frequency of coverage given to these three social problems in Nigeria. This study specifically focuses attention on newspaper reportage of child abuse cases as a result of their prevalence in Nigeria and the consequential social and economic losses the country has recorded over the years. In the same vein, the fact that eastern Nigeria has the highest prevalence of various child abuse cases in Nigeria, including child labour, sexual abuse, informs why this study further focuses attention on the region vis-\u00e0-vis newspaper coverage of child abuse cases. The underlying statement of problem here is that if the eastern region is well reported in social coverage by Nigerian newspapers, the attention of government social departments and agencies as well as other non-governmental organizations may be drawn more to the child right situation in the region. This may consequently lead to formulation and implementation of more policies by the Nigerian government in order to improve the infants conditions in the east. All of these aspects, therefore, led to the central questions of the research: What is the extent of newspaper coverage of child abuse cases and who are the individuals quoted by the newspapers?. The following research objectives were, therefore, derived from the study central question in order to achieve the overall goal of the study. 1.3 Objective of the study The main objective of this study is to examine the newspaper reportage of child abuse cases in Nigeria with a case study of Enugu state; but specifically the research aims to: 1.4 Research questions 1.5 Significance of the study This study fills is the emphasis placed on eastern Nigeria in relation to the coverage of child abuse issues by Nigerian newspapers. This emphasis is considered worthwhile given the above background on the health and population profile of the region. Hence, this study examines newspaper coverage of child right issues in relation to the east as a way of contributing to child abuse communication scholarship in Nigeria. This study also contributes to social communication research in Nigeria by investigating the general challenges involved in child abuse reporting among newspaper human right reporters and the influence of health and science training in newspaper coverage of the issues in Nigeria. It is contended that because most health reporters are trained in arts and social and sciences, it is difficult for them to accurately interpret findings in health and pure sciences (Kua, Reder & Grossel, 2004; Weeks, Verhoef, & Scott, 2007). 1.6 Scope\/limitation of the study The study is on newspaper reportage of child abuse cases in Nigeria. The research will center on child right, sexual abuse and child maltreatment in enugu state Nigeria. The choice of Enugu state is because of the prevalence child abuse cases in the state. Limitation of the study Financial constraint was one the limiting factors of this research as finance is needed for every research work. Time was another major limiting factor for the research as the researcher had to combine both academic activities and the research work.