By Sulaiman Tajudeen
continued from last week
…reports of cases of husbands killing and maiming their wives in the media. The statistics presented by ThisDay (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 and other judiciary systems.
Types of domestic violence in nigeria
The manifestations of the social malady of domestic violence, according to Aihie (2009, 2016) include:
Physical Abuse: This is the use of physical force in a way that injures the victim or puts him or her at the risk of being injured.
Sexual Abuse: This includes all forms of sexual assaults, harassment or exploitation by one’s husband.
Neglect: This includes failure to provide for dependants who may be adults or children, denying family members food, clothing, shelter, medical care, protection from harm or a sense of being loved and valued.
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/her choice of occupation.
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
Emotional/Psychological Abuse: This includes threatening a person or his or her possession or harming a person’s sense of self-worth by putting him/her at risk of serious behavioural, cognitive, emotional or mental disorders.
Risk factors for domestic violence
Lower levels of education.
Past history of exposure to maltreatment/violence.
Witnessing family violence by children.
Antisocial personality disorder.
Harmful use of alcohol and other substances.
Community norms that ascribe higher status.
Low level of women’s access to employment.
Low level of gender equality.
Weak legal sanction for domestic violence.
Difficulties in communicating between partners.
Marital discord and dissatisfaction.
Ideologies of male sexual entitlement (i.e male is believed to be superior to female).
Causes of domestic violence against women in Nigeria
There are many different theories as to the causes of domestic violence. These include psychological theories that consider personality traits and mental characteristics of the perpetrators, as well as social theories which consider external factors in the perpetrator’s environment, such as family structure stress and social learning. As with many phenomena regarding human experience, no single approach appears to cover all cases.
Psychological
Jealousy
Social/Economic Stress
Social Learning:
Power and Control
Anger Problem
Low Self-esteem
Learned Behaviour from Parents
Issue of Aggressive Behaviour
Involvement with Alcohol and other Substances
Cultural belief that men have the right to control wife
Suspicion of Infidelity
Effects of domestic violence against women and children in Nigeria
Effect on Children
Physical Effects
Psychological Effects
Injury/disability
Sleeping disorder
Pregnancy complications
Sexually transmitted diseases
Depression
Anxiety
Alcohol abuse and other substances
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Suicide behaviour in females
Low self-esteem
Fear of intimacy
Social isolation
Economic implications
Management of domestic violence in Nigeria
The response to domestic violence is typically a combined effort between law enforcement, counselling services and health care.
Respect for women: A framework for preventing violence against women aimed at policy makers by WHO & UN in 2019 should be well implemented by responsible governments globally.
Medical Response (i.e health care providers should provide comprehensive services needed by the survivors of domestic violence).
Law Enforcement (i.e perpetrators of domestic violence should be sanctioned accordingly by the law of the land.
Counselling for affected persons
Counselling for offenders
It is important to enact and enforce legislation and implement policies that will promote gender equality.
Government should allocate resources to prevention and response, and also invest in women’s right organisations.
In Conclusion, the effects of domestic violence against women and children cannot be over-emphasized in Nigeria. Hence, the need for all hands to be on deck by couples, families, NGOs and other responsible authorities to work towards the reduction or elimination of domestic violence in Nigeria as suggested by this article.
References
AfrolNews (2007) Half of Nigeria’s Women experience domestic violence. Retrieved April 22, 2024, from http://www.afro.com/awrticles/16471
Agbo, C. & Choji, R. (2014). Domestic violence against women: Any end in sight? From leadership/news/382501Colorado Domestic Violence Offender Management Board (2010). Standards for treatment with court ordered domestic violence offenders. Retrieved: 25 April 2024 from http://dcj.state.co.us/odvsom/Domestic_Violece/DV_pdfs
Crowell, B. & Sugarman, D. B. (1996). An analysis of risk markers in husband to wife violence: The current state of knowledge. Violence and Victims. 1 (2), 101- 124
Barnett, (2001). Why battered women do not leave: External inhibiting factors, social support and internal inhibiting factors. Trauma, Violence and Abuse. 2 (1), 3-35.
Violence against women- World Health Organisation (WHO) 2024.
Aihie (2009) prevalence of domestic violence in Nigeria: Implications for counselling. Edo Journal of counselling 2(1). www.researchgate.net/publication. Retrieved 21st April 2024.
Dr Sulaiman Tajudeen is Head, Clinical Psychology, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-araba, Lagos State.
