POVERTY AND PROSTITUTION SUSCEPTIBILITY AMONGST FEMALE YOUTHS IN CROSS RIVER STATE, NIGERIA

There are myriad factors that seem to encourage or favour prostitution, especially amongyoung people. This study aimed to examine the influence of poverty on the susceptibility ofprostitution among female youths in Cross River State, Nigeria. The survey adopted aninferential design. A simple random sampling technique was used to select 300 respondents(250 females and 50 males). The questionnaire was the primary instrument for datacollection. Data were analysed using both descriptive statistics with excerpt from interviewfor triangulation of findings. Null hypothesis was tested with and the results showed that thereis existing positive relationship between poverty and prostitution in Cross River State. Thehypothesis test demonstrated through Pearson's Product-moment Correlation coefficient r =0.97 show a statistically significant relationship between poverty and susceptibility ofprostitution among young girls. This study confirms that poverty encourages prostitutionamong female youths in Cross River State, Nigeria. It is therefore recommended that thegovernment make a concerted effort to create employment opportunities and developplatforms that will help generate wealth for the large unemployed population in Cross RiverState, Nigeria.