A STUDY ON DOMESTIC VOILENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN NIGERIA
ABSTRACT
In Nigeria, many women are brutally treated by their intimate partners who in some cases lead to the death of such women. Domes-tic violence affects all social groups and can consist of physical, sexual and psychological abuse. The level of violence against women in Nigeria is increasing by the day with two out of every three women in certain communities experiencing violence in the family. Many women do not report the abuse as they are ashamed that their marriages are not working and for most women in Nigeria, divorce is not an option at all. So they suffer in silence. It is against this background that the researcher looks into cases of domestic violence against women in Nigeria, types, causes, effects, and management. The study recommended comprehensive and extensive premarital counselling should be given to intending couples on how to manage their marital relationship; and the government should establish and fund counselling centres at the community, and Local Government levels and employ professional counsellors to help victims and perpetrators of domestic violence.
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
- BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Domestic violence is a pattern of abusive behaviour in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner. The definition adds that domestic violence can happen to anyone regardless of race, age, sexual orientation, religion, or gender”, and can take many forms, including physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional, economic and psychological abuse (Office of Violence Against Women, 2007). Domestic violence is also known as domestic abuse, spousal above, battering, family violence and intimate partner violence. It is a pattern of abusive behaviours by one partner against another in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family or cohabitation. Domestic violence, so defined, has many forms, including physical aggression or assault (hitting, kicking, biting, shoving, restraining, slapping, throwing objects), or threats thereof; sexual abuse; emotional abuse; controlling or domineering; intimidation; stalking; passive/covert abuse otherwise known as neglect; and economic deprivation (Seimeniuk, Krentz, Gish & Gill, 2010). Domestic violence and abuse is not limited to obvious physical violence. It can mean endangerment, criminal coercion, kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, trespassing, harassment and stalking (National Network to End Domestic Violence, 2011). Domestic violence occurs globally (UNICEF, 2005). Families from all social, racial economic, educational and religious backgrounds experience domestic violence in different ways. In the United States of America, each year, women experience about 4.8 million intimate partnerrelated physical assaults and rapes while men are victims of about 2.9 million intimate partner related physical assaults. In parts of the third world generally and in West Africa, in particular, domestic violence is prevalent and reportedly justified and condoned in some cultures. For instance, 56% of Indian women surveyed by an agency justified wife-beating on grounds like –bad cook, disrespectful to in-laws, producing more girls, leaving home without informing, among others. Reports from IRIN (2007) show that 25% of women in Dakar & Kaolack in Senegal are subjected to physical violence from their partners and that very few admit that they are beaten – while 60% of domestic violence victims turn to a family member, in three-quarter of the cases, they are told to keep quiet and endure the beatings. The reports also reveal that a law passed in the Senegalese penal code punishing domestic violence with prison sentences and fines is poorly enforced due to religious and cultural resistance. In Ghana, spousal assaults top the list of domestic violence (IRIN, 2007) In Nigeria; reports reveal “shockingly high” level of violence against women (Afrol News, 2007). Amnesty international (2007) reports that a third (and in some cases two-thirds) of women are believed to have been subjected to physical, sexual and psychological violence carried out primarily by husbands, partners and fathers while girls are often forced into early marriage and are at risk of punishment if they attempt to escape from their husbands. More pathetic is the revelation of gross under reporting and non documentation of domestic violence due to cultural factors (Afrolnews, 2007).
CHAPTER 2- LITERATURE REVIEW
Domestic Violence Against Women in Nigeria UNICEF (2001) in its study asserted that traditionally in Nigeria, as in many other African countries, the beating of wives and children is widely sanctioned as a form of discipline. Therefore, in beating their-children parents believe they are instilling discipline in them, much the same way as in husbands beating their wives, who are regarded like children to be prone to indiscipline which must be curbed. Cases of domestic violence against women have been on the increase in Nigeria. There have been reports of cases of husbands killing and maiming their wives in the media. The statistics presented by This Day (2011) newspaper are daunting. About 50% of women have been battered by their husbands. Shockingly, more educated women (65%) are in this terrible situation as compared with their low income counterparts (55%). Most endure, believing they have nowhere to go and in any case, believing, for good reason, that the law will not protect them. Staggering 97.2% of them are not prepared to report to the Nigeria Police. Project alert (2001), in a survey on violence against women conducted interviews with women working in the markets and other places of work and girls and young women in secondary schools and universities, in Lagos state, Nigeria. 64.4% of 45 women interviewed in the work place said they had been beaten by a partner (boyfriend or husband), 56.6% of 48 interviewed market woman admitted experiencing such violence. According to Amnesty International, the federal and state governments were partly responsible for these alarming figures. Neither the federal or state governments were doing anything to stem this violence and in some cases were even condoning it, thus putting at risk millions of women nationwide. Similar interviews carried out in Oyo state and other parts of Nigeria, yielded similar results. The incidence of domestic violence is high. In a study carried out by Obi and Ozumba (2007), on the factors associated with domestic violence, in South East, Nigeria, 70% of respondents reported abuse in their family with 92% of the victims being female partners and the remaining 8% being male.
The common forms of abuse reported were shouting at a partner (93%), slapping or pushing (77%) and punching and kicking (40%). It is however disturbing to note that many women do not know if they had been abused or not (AfrolNews, 2007). This could be due to the acceptance of some abusive behaviour as ‘normal’. Reports in the print and electronic media reveal vicious attacks on women by intimate partners in different forms such as ‘acid bath’, rape, beatings, some of which sometimes result in the death of the victim. Many victims do not report for fear of reprisal from abusers or the belief that the police and the judicial system cannot help. The police are also reported to frequently dismiss complaints of domestic violence as a ‘private matter’ Agbo & Choji (2014) in the study carried out in Abuja, Nigeria, a mother of one narrated her ordeal in the hands of her husband who constantly was hitting and beating her whenever he was drunk, and she lost two pregnancies as a result of his brutality. Also, in July 2014 Agbo & Choji reported a case of 34 years old housewife, Mrs Fatima Bankole, who had her face stitched 26 times, after she got battered by her husband, Alhaji Kamoru Bankole for taking a piece of fish from the pot to break her fast. The CLEEN Foundation National Crime Victimization Survey, 2013, reported that 1 in every 3 respondents admitted to being a victim of domestic violence. The survey also found a nationwide increase in domestic violence in the past three years from 21 percent in 2011 to 30 percent in 2013. Types of Domestic Violence Different forms of abuse a woman may be subjected to in the home include: 1. Physical abuse This is the use of physical force in a way that injures the victim or puts him/her at risk of being injured. It includes beating, kicking, knocking, punching, choking, and confinement. Female genital mutilation is physical abuse. Physical abuse is one of the commonest forms of abuse. Obi & Ozumba (2007) found that 83% of respondents in their study reported physical abuse. 2. Sexual abuse This includes all forms of sexual assaults, harassment or exploitation. It involves forcing a person to participate in sexual activity, using a child for sexual purposes including child prostitution and pornography. Marital rape also comes under this. 3. Neglect This includes failure to provide for dependants who may be adults or children, denying family members food, clothing, shelter, medical care, and protection from harm or a sense of being loved and valued. 4. Economic abuse This includes stealing from or defrauding a loved one, withholding money for essential things like food and medical treatment, manipulating or exploiting family member for financial gain, preventing a loved one from working or controlling his/he choice of occupation. 5. Spiritual Abuse This includes preventing a person from engaging in his/her spiritual or religious practices or using one’s religious belief to manipulate, dominate or control him/her.
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