| Abstract: |
Ebonyi, like other states in Nigeria is faced with the rampaging incidence of domestic violence. To stem this ugly trend, Ebonyi State Government domesticated and signed into law the VAPP bill in 2018. With this law, such practices as female genital mutilation, denial of widow’s right to husband’s property and wife or husband battery became outlawed. To get the Ebonyi people, particularly, the rural dwellers educated on this important development, the two radio stations in the state do broadcast messages and programmes on the VAPP law. Consequently, the study aimed at determining the level of knowledge and application of radio messages on VAPP law among the rural dwellers in Ebonyi state. It also aimed at evaluating how these rural dwellers perceive the radio messages on the VAPP law and verifying the major factors inhibiting their knowledge and application of these radio messages. To carry out the study, descriptive research method was adopted. The sample size was 380 and questionnaire was the instrument of data collection. The findings suggest that the rural dwellers in the state not only have significant knowledge of the radio VAPP law messages, but they are applying the law. Finding also suggests that the people’s level of education significantly correlated with their knowledge of the messages. However, majority of them still believe that many of the provisions of the VAPP law as aired by the stations are in conflict with their culture. Consequently, the study recommended that governments and non-governmental agencies in Ebonyi state should sponsor the increased frequency of these radio VAPP law messages on the air to consolidate on the gains already made, and that, the people’s dialects should be used in broadcasting the radio messages. |
