PREVALENCE CASES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN NIGERIA(A CASE STUDY OF IBIONO IBOM LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN AKWA IBOM STATE)

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PREVALENCE CASES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN NIGERIA(A CASE STUDY OF IBIONO IBOM LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN AKWA IBOM STATE)

 

 

CHAPTER ONE

 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Domestic violence can be defined as a general term for violence that occurs between intimate partners, relatives, individuals or co-habitants (Violence against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005, 2006). The violence that occurs between the victims and offenders includes physical assault, sexual assault, verbal threats, stalking, robbery, and homicide (GAO, 2006).

Domestic violence has become more of a norm than an abnormal thing in our society. It is the intentional and continuous abuse of anyone in the family subsystem of the society in a way that causes family instability, pain, distress or injury. It refers to any abusive or unlawful treatment of one family member by another, thus violating the law of basic human rights. Domestic violence occurs globally (Dahlberg and Krug, 2002, UNICEF, 2005). Families from all social, racial , economic, educational and religious backgrounds experience domestic violence in different ways.

Djaden and Thoennes (2002), .It does not only apply to the illiterates but also the educated, the rich, influential and even celebrities in the society. In parts of the third world generally and in West Africa in particular, domestic violence is prevalent and has cause several family breakups reportedly justified and condoned in some cultures. Domestic violence is as old as the history of mankind itself and it often occurs in the privacy of the family. This is because a man’s home is often referred to and regarded as his “Castle”, and whatever a man does within the privacy of the home has often escaped the scrutiny of the public. As domestic violence occurs in all forms so does it also occur among all social classes? It is thus a worldwide phenomenon and a social problem. It is apposite to define Family instability, especially, as it is directed towards women. As observed by Population Reports above, Article 2 of the United Nations Declaration clarifies that the definition of violence against women should include but not be limited to acts of physical, sexual and psychological abuse in the community. These should also include spouse battering, sexual abuse of female children, dowry-related violence, rape, including martial rape and also other traditional practices which are equally harmful to women, such as female genital mutilation, sexual harassment and intimidation at work and school, women trafficking, rape at war, widowhood rites which are often degrading, and other forms of violence.

Violence against women, especially those acts perpetrated by intimate partners remains the most pervasive and yet the least recognized human abuse in the world. Around the world, at least, one woman in three has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her life time so says Population Reports. Knapp (2001) disclosed that when some women informants were asked whether they had ever been hit, slapped. Kicked or otherwise physically hurt by intimate partners, 38.5% admitted that they had been and nearly one third of the women admitted to have experienced at least, one physically violent episode by a current partner in the three months preceding the research. The study by Knapp also revealed that partner violence disclosure remained a difficult decision for many women for fear of partners’ reaction in form of more physical abuse or abandonment.

Abuse of women by their male partners may manifest in physical, psychological or emotional forms. Physical types may manifest in forms of raping, pushing, punching, choking, spitting on, kicking, stabling, slapping, slamming the victims against the door, throwing her on the floor, shoving her down the stairs of a building, throwing acid or hot water on the woman, whipping or even hacking the victim to death (Martin, 2000, Okemgbo, 2002). Physical abuse is the most visible of all kinds of wife battery.

Psychological abuse which, in many cases is less visible than physical abuse may occur in forms of harassment, excessive possessiveness, deprivation of economic resources (especially in cases where the woman is a full-time housewife) denial of access to family income (Okemgbo, 2002). The victim may also be subjected to constant belittling, intimidation, humiliation and so on (Population Reports, 1999). In psychological abuse, the victims may continue to suffer the corrosive effects of abuse without being noticed by others. Another subtle form of abuse is controlling behaviour, this may manifest in forms of isolation from friends and relatives, monitoring the victim’s movements and so on. The woman may also be subjected to blackmail and peddling or rumours by her male partner.

Men have often also been observed to give many reasons why they abuse their partners. They may include the followings; women not “obeying” their husbands, talking back to them not having food ready on time, failure to adequately core for the children, the home, or their husbands, questioning husbands about money on girl friends or expressing suspicions of infidelity (Population Reports, 2000). It may also include, failure or a woman to give her husband the coveted male children or the required number of children desired by the husband (Amos, 2001). Unfortunately, despite the devastating effects of domestic violence, it has not seriously attracted the attention of many social scientists in Africa as a major social problem.

Most homes have now been turned into battlegrounds with couples engaging themselves in violent confrontation. Cruelty has replace care and understanding from the marriage lexicon of some couples and in most cases, women are at the receiving end of this cruel act, some of which have been turned into punching bags. It is therefore inevitable that with the escalation of violence in the country, be it in form of rape, battering, harassment, mutilation, assault, then domestic violence will also escalate. And in a society where violence is a social norm and an acceptable means of resolving conflict, it is expected that domestic violence will escalate. (Community Life Project, 2002)

 

Statement of the problem

Domestic violence is one of the most disturbing social problems of contemporary times. Available literature and observation point to the fact that domestic violence seems to be on the increase in Nigeria and especially among married couples. Couples are often seen to complain of physical abuse, sexual abuse and psychological abuse. One is tempted to ask if couples in Ibiono Ibom LGA,Akwa Ibom State also experience domestic violence. Documented media reports provide an affirmative answer to this question. Thus, it became imperative to examine the socio-demographic correlates of domestic violence among couples in this area.

Given the observed inconsistencies in research findings on the correlates of domestic violence among couples, there may be need to examine the prevalence and possible socio-demographic factors which can influence domestic violence. Therefore, the problem of this study was to ascertain if socio-demographic factors such as age, gender, educational status and employment status are related to domestic violence among couples in Ibiono Ibom LGA OF Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.

 

Purpose of the Study

The general purpose of the study was to establish the correlation between sociodemographic factors such as age, gender, educational status, employment status and domestic violence among couples in Ibiono Ibom LGA OF Akwa Ibom State,

Nigeria.

Specifically, the study sought to determine;

  1. The types of domestic violence exhibited by married couples in Enugu North senatorial Zone in Enugu State.
  2. The relationship between educational status and domestic violence among couples.
  3. The relationship between age and domestic violence among couples.
  4. The relationship between gender and domestic violence among coup les.
  5. The relationship between employment status and domestic violence among couples.

Significance of the Study

The findings of this study have both theoretical and practical significance. Theoretically, the study was anchored on the social learning theory, general aggression model and general strain theory. Social learning theory posits that people can learn behaviours by observing and imitating others. In other words, behavior is caused by personal and environmental elements. This implies that behavioral change is a product of interaction between environmental (socio) and personal (demographic) elements. And this assertion justifies the study which correlates socio-demographic factors with domestic violence among couples.

The general aggression model states that individuals with aggression-related concepts and knowledge structures in their neural network, individuals who are predisposed to aggressive affects such as anger, and have triggers for aggressive thoughts and feelings such as early maladaptive scripts, individuals who are impulsive and have had aversive experiences in life are likely to perpetrate domestic violence. This model is relevant to this study because it exposes the fact that both intrapersonal and interpersonal factors are responsible for the use of violence among couples.

General strain theory explains that certain strains or stressors increase the likelihood of violence and that couple use violence to reduce the stress being experienced or to obtain revenge against the source of the stress. This theory is relevant to this study in the sense that it reveals that certain stressors within the marital relationships can lead to domestic violence.

Practically, the results of this study is of immense benefit to married couples, healthcare providers, policy-makers, guidance counsellors, future researchers and the Nigeria society at large.

The study will benefit married couples in that the findings of this study are expected to help address gender stereotypes that may be influencing their use of violence. The couples will derive this benefit when the study’s findings are circulated through counselling programmes, and the internet.

It will make health-care providers more aware of the scope of domestic violence among married men and women, to encourage an evidence-informed response to domestic violence. Health-care providers will derive such benefit when the findings of the study are presented to them through counselling programmes, seminars and the

internet.

This study will enable policy makers and researchers to clarify issues and misconceptions regarding domestic violence with respect to couples’ age, gender educational status, employment status and also help them see the need for them to vigorously pursue the goal achievement of violence prevention and intervention in Nigeria.

The study is relevant to guidance counsellors in that it will help increase their understanding on how socio-demographic factors could relate to domestic violence. The findings of the study will also inspire guidance counsellors on the need for couple counseling which will subsequently promote married couples’ involvement in healthy marital relationships.

Finally, the research work when published will add to the existing body of knowledge in the area of the socio-demographic correlates of domestic violence. The findings will be disseminated through conferences and learned journals.

Scope of the Study

The study was delimited to couples in Ibiono Ibom LGA OF Akwa Ibom State. Moreover, it focused on the socio-demographic correlates of domestic violence among couples. In the course of the study, variables such as educational status, age, employment status, and gender were considered in relation to how they affect couples’ use of violence in marital relationships.

 

Research Questions

The following research questions guided the study.

  1. What are the types of domestic violence perpetrated among couples?
  2. What is the relationship between’ educational status and domestic violence among couples?
  3. What is the relationship between age and domestic violence among couples?
  4. What is the relationship between gender and domestic violence among couples?
  5. What is the relationship between employment status and domestic violence among couples?

 

Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses for this study were tested at 0.05 level of

significance.

Ho1: .There is no significant relationship between age and domestic violence among   couples.

Ho2: There is no significant relationship between educational status and domestic violence among couples.

Ho3: There is no significant relationship between gender and domestic violence among couples.

Ho4: There is no significant relationship between employment status and domestic violence among couples.

 

PREVALENCE CASES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN NIGERIA(A CASE STUDY OF IBIONO IBOM LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN AKWA IBOM STATE)

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