Crime-Reporting Practices Among Market Women in Oyo, Nigeria

Crime surveys of businesses have revealed that while crimes inwhich men were victims tend to be reported, those in which women were victims are likelyto go unreported to the police. Understanding the reasons behind male reporting andfemale non-reporting is useful not only for collection of crime statistics but also forimproving crime control competences of law enforcement agencies. This article examinesthe impact of crime involving market women on their crime-reporting practices in Oyotown, Oyo State, Nigeria. The study adopted quantitative and qualitative approaches.Copies of a questionnaire were administered to collect quantitative data from randomlyselected 210 market women at Akesan, Sabo, and Mosadoba markets in Oyo town. Five focusgroup discussions, in-depth and key informant interviews were conducted to complementquantitative data. Both data were analyzed. The study found that cultural considerationsstand between crime events that hurt the economic interests of women and their readinessto report to the police. Due to the very low confidence that market women have in theability and willingness of the police to apprehend criminals, they prefer to internalizetheir losses, take their cases to traditional rulers who use “oro cult” to protect themagainst criminals, or approach available faith-based options such as churches andmosques. The article concludes that women have economy-enriching roles to play in thecontext of sustainable security. It therefore suggests that the government shouldaddress public safety to enable market women make their modest contribution to Nigeria’seconomic development