Community Education Strategies for Mitigating Harmful Cultural Practices Against Women in Rebisi Kingdom, Port Harcourt

This study investigated Community Education Strategies for Mitigating Harmful Cultural Practices Against Women in Rebisi Kingdom, Port Harcourt. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The population of the study consisted of 200 community leaders and 800 women’s group members, making it a total of 1000 respondents across the seven ancestral communities that make up Rebisi Kingdom. A sample of 370 respondents and 70 community leaders were selected using the simple random sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire. The face and content validation were determined by three experts in adult education and measurement and evaluation departments in Rivers State University. The reliability of the instrument was established using the Cronbach Alpha method, which yielded a coefficient of 0.81, 0.82, and 0.83 obtained from various clusters indicating high internal consistency. Data collected were analyzed using mean scores and standard deviation. The findings revealed that community education strategies such as advocacy campaigns, participatory dialogues, and women empowerment programs were effective in reducing harmful cultural practices like early marriage, widowhood rites, and gender-based discrimination. The study concluded that sustained community education fosters social change and enhances gender equity in traditional societies. It recommended increased governmental and NGO collaboration to strengthen community-based educational programs that promote positive cultural transformation in Rebisi Kingdom and similar communities.