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EVAIA: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ETHICS AND VALUES Volume 1, NO. 1,  July, 2020 

 

Amunnadi  Chukwudi  A., PhD                                                                                                                                     Page 54 
 

PROMOTING CHRISTIAN SEX ETHICS: A KEY TO REDRESSING 

RISING TREND OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN 

NIGERIA 

     

Amunnadi  Chukwudi  A., PhD 

Division of General Studies, 

Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Agbani 

Email: amuchuks@gmail.com 

 

Abstract 
The subject of sex is clearly an issue that is of considerable theoretical and 

practical relevance to the current Nigerian society. The news on corruption 

bothering on the political class ravaging the nation economically through all 

kinds of fraudulent lifestyles no longer makes much headlines in our national 

dailies. For the story of economic subjugation of the citizenry by the ruling 

class has become a familiar terrain. What appears to be a worrisome trend 

therefore is the rising profile of sexual violence against women involving both 

the religious and political leaders as well as the ordinary men on the street. 

We therefore appear to be living in an age of sexual revolution that is 

unleashing all kinds of promiscuous behavior among our citizenry that has far 

reaching negative consequences on our women population. It is against this 

backdrop of rising sexual violence in Nigeria that this work seeks to examine 

the promotion of Christian sexual ethics as the way forward. Christian ethics 

with reference to our attitudes towards human sexuality embraces a long list 

of things that people are prohibited from doing. While this may sound too 

rigid yet biblical context of sexual ethics provides the boundary of behaviour 

that secures humanity from sliding into the negative aspects of sexual lifestyle 

that is damaging to the overall good   of  society .This study invites us to 

consider the place of Biblical context in our fast changing society that is being 

overrun by sexual violence. The work involved a survey approach and 

engaged the use of secondary and primary data. 

 

Keywords: Sex, Ethics, Violence, Governance, lifestyle education  

 

Introduction:  

According to online report, it is estimated that 35 per cent of women 

worldwide have experienced sexual violence from an intimate or non-intimate 

partner. Moreover it posits that studies have  shown that women who have 

experienced physical or sexual intimate partner violence report higher rates of 

depression, having an abortion and acquiring HIV, compared to those  who 

have not..Furthermore it submits that approximately 15 million adolescent 

girls (aged 15 to 19) worldwide have experienced forced sex (forced sexual 

intercourse or other sexual acts) at some point in their life. Unfortunately 

while noting that in the vast majority of countries, adolescent girls are most at 



EVAIA: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ETHICS AND VALUES Volume 1, NO. 1,  July, 2020 

 

Amunnadi  Chukwudi  A., PhD                                                                                                                                     Page 55 
 

risk of forced sex by a current/former husband, partner or boyfriend only 

about, one per cent ever sought professional help. This no doubt is based on 

its assertion that only a third of the global community can afford to provide 

such help. 

 

Senthiligam (2017) states that sexual violation of women is a universal 

problem; from the streets of London, Mumbai, Washington to Lagos, the 

recent outpouring of stories of women underscores the fact that the above 

problem showed a uniformity in its spread – irrespective of country or culture. 

What the above submission has therefore made clear is that sexual harassment 

is everywhere. Furthermore it states while citing the National Population 

Commission Nigeria that sexual violation of the girl child is on the increase in 

Nigeria. 

 

Sex again! Many people would be very repulsive to the idea of discussing the 

issue of sex in the public taking cognizance of our African heritage which 

reserves sacredness and secrecy to the topic. Unfortunately or fortunately 

modernity is breaking such age old tradition, and thus has given birth to 

information driven age. The issue of sex has most recently become one of 

both theoretical and practical imperative in view of the current Nigerian 

situation where sexual violence against women has become a norm rather than 

a misnomer.                                                 

 

There are issues of corruption in Nigeria that has kept the nation veiled from 

the platform or interphase with the developed global community of nations. 

These range but are not limited to political, economic, cultural, religious and 

legal abuse. Nzomiwu (2000) while corroborating the above view states that 

the story of fraud across the various dispensations of military and civilian 

leadership is familiar to most Nigerians. However, he observes that the rising 

issue of current concern regarding the national decay is on the spreading coast 

of sexual violence in our social life. Furthermore he opines that we are passing 

through an era of sexual revolution similar to what engulfed Europe in the mid 

1960’s. Our nation he writes has been eroded by the sex virus engulfing all 

strata of the society namely the adults, the youths and even the children. 

Simply put, we are living in an age of sexual madness that drives on the 

wheels of sexual sensitization through public display, pornography and 

advertisement. Sexual violence against women in Nigeria appears to be on the 

increase  because sex in today’s Nigeria has become so much cheapen that 

many now engage in very close sexual relationship outside the marriage bond. 

We appear therefore to be living in an era where most people now believe that 

purity, faithfulness to marital vow and decency in sexual lifestyle is meant for 

the trash.  Nzomiwu (2000) furthermore corroborates the above view when he 

states that many Nigerians now have the false ideology or belief that chastity 

before marriage is not only impossible but completely unacceptable and an 



EVAIA: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ETHICS AND VALUES Volume 1, NO. 1,  July, 2020 

 

Amunnadi  Chukwudi  A., PhD                                                                                                                                     Page 56 
 

outdated culture. Furthermore he states that in Nigeria today sexual 

indulgence has not only become very baffling to serious- minded people, it 

has equally grown very far reaching in its scope. According to him,  in order  

to enjoy so called sexual fantasies, many people now resort to all forms of 

abnormal sexual habits such as exhibitionism, fetishism, voyeurism, 

pedophilia, zoophilia, and sexual sadism. What this means is that we are 

living in an age of sexual violence which has grossly eroded our age old 

African tradition and heritage as well as our Christian foundational philosophy 

on sex as a sacred gift from God. 

  

Women, according to Wikipedia online, often face sexual violence at the 

hands of their family members such as rape, murder, slapping, and kicking. 

Some of the reasons that were adduced for such abuse include their husbands 

being drunk, financial issues, and the rejection of a partner's sexual advances. 

Sexual violence against women in Nigeria largely goes unreported because of 

the burden of proof necessary for conviction. Besides the high level  of  social 

stigma it bring often  makes  many  women reluctant to follow their cases 

legally.  Moreover Nigerian police have not been seen to arrest for sexual 

assault resulting in less reporting of the act. It equally notes that about 25% of 

women reported forced sex at the hands of either their current partner or a 

former partner. Furthermore, the 2008 Demographic and Health Survey 

showed that over 30.5% of married women have experienced at least one or 

more forms of physical, emotional or sexual violence in their marriage.  

Against these backdrops, this discourse sets to unveil the causative factors 

behind sexual molestation of women as well as the role of Christian sexual 

ethics as a means of redressing the rising trend of sexual violence against 

women in Nigerian society. 

 

Theoretical Framework:  

According to Stephanie and Rogers (2010), there are pluralistic approaches 

with respect to the theoretical postulations regarding sex which consequently 

pose challenge to any serious study on the concept. Most importantly they 

submit that the above situation has led to the categorization of  sex on two 

epochs namely the primitive and modern thoughts. What this means is that 

there is an increasing number of theoretical postulations on the subject matter 

of sex.    However this study would employ the divinity theory. This is  an off-

shoot of the Judeo- Christian thought which is rooted on the premise that 

man as a creature of God was designed to unveil divinity of God through 

his thought and deed. According to Poston (2000) divinity has to do with 

immutability of God as an unchanging reality. Applied in this context, divinity 

theory relates to the unchanging laws, principles and standards of God with 

respect to sexual conduct. Sex ethics therefore are portrayed as being 

motivated by a desire to change the lives of the individuals and also to those 

individuals as the change agent of the wider society. To this end, sex ethics is 



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Amunnadi  Chukwudi  A., PhD                                                                                                                                     Page 57 
 

represented to provide moral road map as well as mobile community of the 

faithful who would  serve as the change we need in addressing sexual violence 

as well as the catalyst for positive change in the fight against all kinds of 

sexual abuses. 

 

Though the above theory has been criticized by some in being static and 

ethnic bias, by seeking to maintain status, the theory is useful to the study. 

Consequently, structural functionalism was employed to x-ray how sex ethics 

can play various roles in addressing the current rising trend of sexual violence 

in our nation. 

 

Sex Ethics 
Sexual ethics or sex ethics (also sexual morality) according to Wikipedia it is 

the study of ethics within the context of human sexuality, and sexual 

behaviour. Moreover, it states that it is a branch of normative sciences that 

seeks to understand, evaluate, and critique the way individuals  express their 

sexual activities within the context  of their social, cultural, and philosophical 

perspectives. Sexual ethics therefore involve issues such as positive and 

negative sexual lifestyle, theological, cultural, sociological and natural 

perspectives on sexual standards and roadmap. Sex has historically been an 

issue of great importance to people in various cultures of the world, and as 

such is a pertinent topic of discussion and study. As sex is a social practice 

that varies widely in the ways that it is understood, performed, and discussed, 

this study of sexual ethics and norms will be based on theological perspectives 

of Christian religion. 

 

According to Cahill (1995), sex ethics relates to the seeking of biblical 

guidance for sexual morality which in most cases prescribes rules that 

embraces such terms as homosexuality, adultery, and divorce. She notes that 

the problem with the ancient module of sex ethics is that of providing an 

answer to the question of original audience and the meaning of such 

prescription, rules as well as the issue of harmonizing the relevance of the old 

with the modern times. 

 

She then contends that though opinions are diverse with some authors 

believing in nothing like sex ethics and others in absolute or divine sex ethics, 

there is need to create a positive functional agenda or teaching on sex that 

helps in securing cohesion and trust within the context of community group 

and interpersonal relationships.  It is against this backdrop that she notes that 

the Biblical teachings which prescribes a functional normative platform on sex 

remains a powerful force for mobilizing a virtuous driven community as 

predicated on the sexual lifestyle disciplines it promotes.  Sex ethics therefore 

from the context of this work has been described as the science of sexual  

behavior from the Judeo Christian perspectives. As one who has lived through 



EVAIA: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ETHICS AND VALUES Volume 1, NO. 1,  July, 2020 

 

Amunnadi  Chukwudi  A., PhD                                                                                                                                     Page 58 
 

more than five decades of life in Nigeria I am only too well aware that the 

concept of “acceptable” behavior haschanged very significantly over the 

years. This is most significantly true in the realm of human sexuality. The 

Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa  New  Zealand as written by Laurie Guy 

(n.d)  puts it more pointedly when they posit that sexual behaviour that would 

have been frowned upon forty years ago is now likely to be seen as an 

acceptable norm of life by many. Furthermore it posits that sexual ethics 

broadly speaking relates to community and personal standards which regulate 

the conduct of sex within and outside of marriage. It is the instrument of 

defining the good and bad side of sexual activities within the context of divine 

morality. 

 

Christian ethics with reference to our attitudes towards human sexuality 

embraces a long list of things that people are prohibited from doing. While 

this may sound too rigid yet biblical context of sexual ethics provides the 

boundary of behaviour that secures humanity from sliding into the negative 

aspects of  sexual lifestyle that is damaging to the overall good   of  society. 

 

Sexual Violence 

Cambridge Online Dictionary (2020) defines sexual violence as actions or 

words that are intended to hurt people. It relates to the use of force or 

instrument of coercion aimed at inflicting harm which may be physical, 

economical, psychological or otherwise. Sexual violence in this context refers 

to the use of force which may be material or immaterial to secure a carnal 

advantage of a woman; a process which culminates in the unleashing of 

diverse range of harm on a woman. Such violent act amounts to rape, sexual 

exploitation and forced prostitution that occur in the context of premarital, 

marital and extra marital relationships. 

 

The Dangers of Sexual Violence against Women in Nigeria 
Sexual violence has continued to increase in contemporary Nigeria.  This was 

equally the view of George (2015) when he posits that violence against 

women has become a regular part of most women’s experience in Nigeria.  

Nzomiwu (2012) corroborates the above view when he states that the modern 

level of obsession with sex poses serious danger or hazards to the Nigerian 

society especially the youths. This section   will therefore attempt to discuss 

some of the dangers of sexual violence against women in our country. 

 

i) Economic  Effects: According to NOIPolls on the week commencing July 

22nd,2019 public opinion poll showed that one of the major challenges faced 

by Nigerian women is economic subjugation. While many factors contribute 

to the above problem, Fawole (2008) posits that several negative conditions 

that result from sexual violence against Nigerian women contribute in no 

small measure  to their economic impoverishment. Some of those conditions 



EVAIA: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ETHICS AND VALUES Volume 1, NO. 1,  July, 2020 

 

Amunnadi  Chukwudi  A., PhD                                                                                                                                     Page 59 
 

were listed as physical violence, HIV infection, women and girl child 

trafficking for illicit sex trade. Sexual violence therefore makes women weak 

physically, by exposing them to  hostile men who not only manhandle them 

physically but also distract them mentally and emotionally thereby 

endangering  their capacity to  exploit in full the development of their God 

given economic potentials. Against this backdrop economic challenges of 

sexually abused Nigerian women not only threaten their economic survival it 

also hinder the development and survival of their respective dependants. What 

this means is that in order to grow strong economies the need to reduce the 

incidence of sexually abused women in our country cannot be 

overemphasized. 

 

ii) Unwanted Children Cases: Sexual violence of women in these modern 

times is expanding the coast of unwanted children in our society. There are 

rising reported cases of abandoned new born babies on account of 

unwillingness of their unmarried teenage mothers to keep them because they 

result from sexual violence. Some of these babies are born and left to die in 

public garbage dump, and some unfortunate ones thrown into pit toilets. In 

fact, the rising number of motherless babies’ homes today underscores the 

seriousness of this problem. 

 

iii) Abortion and Deaths: The cases of teenagers dying in the hands of quack 

doctors because of failed abortion cases continue to be on the increase in our 

day. These teenage girls who are often victims of sexual violence in most 

cases resort to road side chemists in order to abort such pregnancies. This 

option is high due to the financial implication of consulting a qualified 

medical personnel as well as the fear of being stigmatized publicly because of 

given birth to illegitimate children.  Unfortunately such girls end up being 

butchered to death in the hands of quake and fake medical personnel.  In   Aku 

town in Igbo- Etiti local government area of Enugu State, a teenage girl was 

reported to have been sent to untimely death when she consulted a road side 

chemist to engage her in an abortion of her unwanted baby some five years 

ago. In June 2011 at Taraba state it was reported that Vasty,  an expectant 

mother of 16 years old  was cut into pieces by a quack chemist while 

undergoing an abortion exercise. This incident led to lynching to death of the 

chemist as well as the boyfriend who impregnated the deceased.  All these 

tend to lend credence to the fact that sexual violence against women is 

gradually turning into death-bed for the undiscerning Nigerian female 

population.  

 

Indeed, the Bible is replete with several references showing that an unborn 

child should be thought of and treated as a person from the moment of 

conception.  Besides, there is increasing scientific evidence supporting the 

distinct identity of the unborn child. However, abortion to save the life of the 



EVAIA: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ETHICS AND VALUES Volume 1, NO. 1,  July, 2020 

 

Amunnadi  Chukwudi  A., PhD                                                                                                                                     Page 60 
 

mother is morally justified because it involves making a choice between one 

“person dying and two persons dying”. Therefore abortion is the wrongful 

taking of an innocent human life. In other words, all forms of sexual violence 

that promotes wrongful destruction of innocent child in the womb should be 

condemned by all and sundry as evil and anti-society. 

 

iv) Psychological Effects: Depression is one of the emotional and 

psychological effects of sexual violation of women. According to 

https://www.rainn.org online depression is a mood disorder which results 

when an individual fails to manage crisis that expresses themselves in 

protracted sorrow, hopelessness and worthlessness. Moreover it posits that 

such psychological disorder can lead to several problems such as sleeping   

and eating disorder, and in extreme cases to suicide.  While depression can 

result from neurological or brain damage many women who are sexually 

abused often end up becoming permanently emotionally unstable a situation 

which if not managed promptly can lead them to insanity. The above is 

corroborated by Antai, Oke, Braithwaite & Lopez (2014) when they posit that 

psychological distress is reported to be highest among women exposed to 

lifetime sexual violence. Sexual violation of Nigerian women is therefore a 

highly life threatening problem that should be the concern of all. 

 

Perspectives of Christian Sexual ethics: 

Christian sex ethics stems from moral conducts taught by Jesus Christ and 

documented in Judeo-Christian tradition. This Christological standard has 

since ages remained the moral standard for determining right and wrong.  Till 

date, the very essence of this moral standard remains relevant in human 

existence. As revealed in the gospel of Jesus Christ and confirmed in the 

writings of the Apostles, Christian sex ethics are visible in the following.  

i) Adultery: The Mosaic Law according to Macdonald (1990) clearly forbids 

adultery as expressed in the following Scriptures: Ex. 20;14 and Deut.5:18. 

However going beyond adulterous conduct he posits that Jesus taught His 

disciples that mere abstinence from the physical act of adultery was not 

enough---there must be inward purity. Thus Matthew’s writing  as stated inter 

alia puts it pointedly; “You have heard that it was said by them of old , You 

shall not commit  adultery, But I say unto you that whosoever looks on a 

woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart”. 

( Math.5:27-28).Christian sex ethics therefore goes beyond recognizing ethical 

codes to  embracing  a transformed heart  that abhors sexual impurity both in 

thought and in action. The Old Testament writing on the grave consequence of 

adultery as an ethical misconduct states that if a man commits adultery with 

another man’s wife both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to 

death.(Leviticus 21:10) Even though, the  above penalty was not carried over 

into New Testament Theology, adultery was still prohibited by Christ as made 

https://www.rainn.org/


EVAIA: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ETHICS AND VALUES Volume 1, NO. 1,  July, 2020 

 

Amunnadi  Chukwudi  A., PhD                                                                                                                                     Page 61 
 

evident by his charge to the woman caught in adultery to go home and sin no 

more.(John 8: 4—11) .  

 

Adultery is defined by Chambers Dictionary (New Edition) as voluntary 

sexual intercourse between a married person and someone who is not that 

person’s legal partner. The above definition is corroborated by Strong (2001) 

who states that adultery refers to sexual intercourse outside marriage. The 

word adultery refers to a Hebrew word na’aph meaning to apostatize, to break 

wedlock. It carries the idea of shedding off the demands of one’s religion with 

respect to sexual ethical discipline. That adultery goes beyond physical sexual 

act is confirmed by Peter in his writing when he states that a person may be 

proud by outlook such that he could be described as one whose eyes is full of 

adultery even though he has not physically committed adultery (2 Pet. 2:14). 

Adultery therefore is an ethical challenge that has both mental and spiritual 

triggers. Mentally people could be lured through seductive speech, pictures 

and attires. In the book of Proverbs, we are told of a woman  dressed in the 

attire of a harlot (Proverbs7:10),and who with her much fair speech  seduced 

an undiscerning young man into immoral relationship (Proverbs 7:21). 

Spiritually speaking adultery is driven by the principles of the unregenerate 

heart or the unconverted human spirit which is rebellious to divine rules of 

living as revealed in the Holy Scriptures. 

 

ii) Fornication: The English Online Dictionary defines fornication as sexual 

intercourse especially on the part of unmarried person. In teaching about pre-

marital sex or fornication the Bible speaks pointedly by demanding that 

people flee from fornication as it is the only  sin that people engages in with 

their body(1 Cor.6: 18). The word flee is not a suggestion but a command 

which by implication underscores that in divine economy, fornication should 

not be compromised or allowed for any reason. This is because in the physical 

sense it is a type of the spiritual union with devils. It is against this backdrop 

that God referred to Israel’s idol worship as spiritual adultery or 

fornication(Jer.3:1-9, Ezek.23:1-45,Hos.,Chpt.4). Moreover fornication is 

placed alongside the following terms; uncleanness and inordinate affection 

underlying the fact that it is a product of unhealthy environmental factors as 

well as warped up emotional disposition. Most importantly Christian sexual 

ethics provides reasons why fornication should be regarded as  an ethical 

aberration; i)It is harmful to the body, (1 Cor. 6:18),  ii) It corrupts the 

personality (Mark 7:21), iii) It would deny one access to the kingdom of 

God.(Eph. 5:3-5), iv) It would attract the wrath of God.(Eph.5:6), v) 

Sanctification rather than fornication should be the  rule of Christian conduct. 

(1 Thess.4:3-7).    

 

. The high rate of sexual violence especially among our unmarried young 

generation as  well as  married folk leaves much to be desired. It shows that 



EVAIA: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ETHICS AND VALUES Volume 1, NO. 1,  July, 2020 

 

Amunnadi  Chukwudi  A., PhD                                                                                                                                     Page 62 
 

the Christian ideological foundation and even our highly held traditional 

sacred values of sexual purity have been grossly eroded by modernism that 

drives on the wheel of ethical relativism. Unfortunately the gross damage 

being done to ourselves at the levels of personal, family, community, national 

relationships coupled with the corruption it is unleashing on our political, 

economic , educational, spiritual and socio- cultural foundations are better 

imagined than experienced. The vicious cycle unleashed on Israel following 

King David notorious moral lapse underscores how sexual immorality of an 

individual can trigger the fire that can destroy a whole nation. It was an evil 

that led him to plot for the murder of one his best army general in order to 

cover up his sexual immorality but which unfortunately provoked divine 

judgment upon his house-hold played out as a drama of rape, murder, open 

sexual violation of his wives by his own son as well as a military conspiracy 

to topple his throne that nearly cost his life under the auspices of his son 

Absalom(2 Samuel . Chpts. 11,12 and 13). 

 

iii) Prostitution/Sex Hawking: In Lev.19:29, God condemned prostitution 

which was a common feature of pagan religion and culture. According to the 

Scripture, prostitution whether for money as in sex hawking or promotion and 

of worship of heathen gods through ritual sex promotes wickedness in the 

society. Sex hawking has become a booming business today in Nigeria that 

many married women as well as university undergraduates, secondary and 

primary school children are recruited by big sex merchants to sustain the pool 

of clients for the ever increasing demand for sex by sex addicts. 

Unfortunately, it is the rich political class that aid and abet this illicit business 

through their outrageous salaries and allowances and other fraudulently 

earned incomes which they deploy in building hotels all over the country 

instead of establishing manufacturing industries. The irony of this wickedness 

by our political leaders is that they send their sons and daughters to study in 

the best universities in America and Europe using the public funds, they 

embezzled from public treasury at the expense of the children of the poor. 

Thus while they commit great resources to prepare their wards for both 

national and global intellectual, economic and political leadership they 

intentionally deny the children of the poor quality access to   education and 

noble living. As a result majority of women from poor homes becomes easily   

diverted  into prostitution as a way out of poverty not minding the gross 

violations they are often subjected to sexually and otherwise. Besides by 

spending billions of naira to build hotels all over the place our leaders 

knowingly or unknowingly become purveyors of sexual violation of our  

women generations by trapping them with cheap sex as a way of survival 

which invariably make them perpetually poor and subjugated  to the whims 

and caprices of the powerful rich. 

iv) Incest: The Hebrew restrictive law regarding incest is contained in one 

verse , ‘None of you shall approach  any  who is near of kin to him, to  



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Amunnadi  Chukwudi  A., PhD                                                                                                                                     Page 63 
 

uncover their nakedness: I am the LORD’ (Lev. 18:6). The term to uncover 

nakedness refers to sexual intercourse whether in the bonds of incestuous or 

outside marital relationship. The word incest therefore means having carnal 

knowledge of one’s son, daughter, mother, father, aunt, uncle, mother-in-law, 

father-in-law, amongst others. The law against incest according to Swaggart 

(2013) was informed by the need to ensure that as people grow of age they 

should marry provided that such marriage   is marked by restriction. 

Commenting further on the above restriction Macdonald (1995) notes  that 

from the beginning, God ordained that two shall become one flesh in marriage 

and that therefore when  blood relations marry they defeat God’s purpose of 

the joining of two people to become one. Besides, he posits that modern 

medicine has confirmed that when blood relatives marry they not only 

perpetuate the physical or mental weaknesses of their parents in most cases 

they amplify it. 

 

 v) Marriage: Modernity has continued to exert great pressure on the 

traditional way of doing things. These transformations embrace almost every 

stratum of human existence namely economy, education, communication, 

government, entertainment, etc. However, the most adversely affected of all 

the dimensions of life by modern day forces of change is on marriage. 

Specifically, the incorporation of the concept of same sex marriage by modern 

day liberalists has remained a catastrophic ethic introduced by sons and 

daughters of Lucifer to undermine the ancient landmark and divinely ordained 

rule of a man leaving his house and cleaving to  a  woman to become one 

flesh. The Holy Book puts it pointedly when it states inter alia :“Therefore 

shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife and they shall 

become one flesh”.(Gen.2:24). According to Swaggart (2013), the above 

Bible passage must be viewed as an inspired declaration of God’s law of 

marriage, which points to a unity of persons as opposed to conjunction of 

bodies or community of interests, or even a reciprocity of affection. The Lord 

Jesus Christ upheld the above  law on marriage when he affirms as follows: 

And He answered and said to them ‘Have you not read 

that He that   made them at the  beginning made 

them male and female. And said for this reason  a man  

shall leave his   father and mother and be joined  

to his  wife and the two shall become  one flesh. So 

then  they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore 

what God has joined together, let no man  put 

separate. (Math.19:4-6). 

Adrienne &Young (2000) corroborates the above view when he posits that the 

initial creation of man and woman together as the embodiment of the image of 

God stands as the foundational paradigm of marriage. Furthermore, he 

submits that monogamy is the marriage of one man and one woman. What this 

means is that though cultural and religious diversity have continued to 



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Amunnadi  Chukwudi  A., PhD                                                                                                                                     Page 64 
 

promote differential approach to ethical conduct on marriage the Christian 

community must remain resolute in defending the divinely ordained standard 

for marriage especially in these times when the rate of divorce, broken homes 

and secularization of the moral ethos  is on geometric increase.  

 

Conclusion 

 

The unrestricted sexual escapades and abuse in Nigeria today is fuelling an 

overly sensual society that is increasingly unleashing all kinds of sexual 

violence on our women population. This sad development has no basis in the 

Bible nor in Christian morality and not even in our traditional African culture. 

There is therefore no doubt that this ugly trend is rooted on the invasion and 

importation of western culture. The above work indentified the dangerous 

consequences of sexual violence against women in Nigeria today. It noted that 

pluralistic nature of modern society is advancing great diversity of thought as 

far as sexual ethics is concerned. However this paper adopted divinity theory 

as a platform for evolving ethical direction as way forward. 

 

   

Recommendations 

 

The following recommendations are given as suggestions for the way forward.  

 

i) Governments should provide relevant legislative backing to   Christian 

ethics relating to sexual conduct as a way to ensuring that those that breach 

them can be   sanctions where necessary.  

ii)Sex education  which should give emphasis to appreciation and modeling of 

Christian sexual ethical lifestyle  should be made compulsory in our 

educational curriculum from primary to tertiary level. 

iii)The religious community, mass media, non-governmental agencies and 

government should    promote campaign on  healthy sexual living  both in the 

churches and in the print and electronic media.  

iv)It is appropriate for governments to make and enforce reasonable laws 

restricting the practice of prostitution as well as the proliferation of  hotels that 

serve as hotbeds for all kinds of commercialized illicit sex. 

v)Production and sale of pornography  should be censored  among our young 

generation as they serve as fuel for provoking unguided violent sexual 

conduct. 

vi) Parents, religious and political leaders must demonstrate commitment to 

sound sexual character through exemplary leadership. 

vii) Individuals should  seek for divine transformation of their hearts through 

repentance, faith and development of godly company. For according to the 

wise man, Solomon, he that walks with the wise men shall  be wise : but a 

companion of fools shall be destroyed.(Proverbs 13:20) 



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Amunnadi  Chukwudi  A., PhD                                                                                                                                     Page 65 
 

viii) Girl child and women education to the level of skill acquisition should be 

subsidized by government and made compulsory to forestall the increasing 

rate of women who turn to sex hawking as a last and only resort for survival 

because of lack of education or relevant skill.  

ix) Government should provide effective legislation against abortion. 

x) Government should provide maximal socio-economic security for the 

unemployed, aged, and the physically challenged in order to reduce the rate 

people who  resort to  prostitution and other forms of vices for survival. 

xi) The political and super rich among us should be given incentive by the 

government to build industries which is the shortest root out of 

unemployment, poverty and idleness that serve as incubation ground for 

sexual illicitism.  

 

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Amunnadi  Chukwudi  A., PhD                                                                                                                                     Page 66 
 

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