Domestic violence affects millions of people globally, especially women and girls in both developed and developing countries. Domestic violence has been linked to poor health outcomes among women, such as acute morbidity (Campbell 2002), physical injuries (Heise 1993; Krug et al. 2002; Garcia-Moreno et al. 2006), gynecological problems (Mayhew and Watts 2002), sexually transmitted infections (Krug et al. 2002; Silverman et al. 2008), and depression (Heise 1993). Since the International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo, Egypt (1994), and at the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing (United Nations 1995), public discourse on domestic violence against women has increased, along with interest in programmatic interventions and research among policymakers, donors, program managers, and researchers. The platforms of actions ensuing from these conferences highlighted the paucity of data on the global prevalence, nature, causes, and consequences of domestic violence. This absence of data has restricted understanding of the magnitude and seriousness of this issue, which affects the development of effective approaches and strategies to stem the problem.
However, a number of scholars have investigated and documented the prevalence of and factors associated with domestic violence against women in many parts of the globe (Kishor and Johnson 2004; Kimani 2007; Hindin et al. 2008; Owoaje and OlaOlorun 2012; Tenkorang et al. 2013; Solanke 2014). These studies examined physical, sexual, and psychological violence perpetrated by intimate male partners. A multi-country analysis of Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data showed that approximately one fifth to one half of women experienced spousal or intimate-partner abuse (Kishor and Johnson 2004). Several scholars have reported on the widespread domestic violence perpetrated against Arab women by their spouses (Douki et al. 2003; Khawaja and Twetel-Salem 2004; Khawaja and Barazi 2005; Diop-Sidibe et al. 2006; Usta et al. 2007). Domestic violence against women is also prevalent in Asia, Europe, and South America (Ellsberg et al. 1999; Burazeri et al. 2005; Khan and Aeron 2006).
Domestic violence is also pervasive in sub-Saharan Africa (Koenig et al. 2003; Kimani 2007; Tenkorang et al. 2013; Oyediran and Cunningham 2014; Solanke 2014; Wekwete et al. 2014) due to cultural values and norms that condone and reinforce abusive practices against women (Kim and Motsei 2002; Tenkorang et al. 2013). For instance, in Zimbabwe, about half of married women experience some form of gender-based violence (Wekwete et al. 2014), and 15.6% of women in Nigeria report having experienced physical violence (Solanke 2014).
Despite growing interest in this issue, most studies on domestic violence have been limited to its prevalence, causes, and consequences. A few studies (Hindin 2003; Oyediran and Isiugo-Abanihe 2005; Khawaja et al. 2008; Linos et al. 2010) explored attitudinal perspectives; yet further data are needed. Developing a policy and program framework to prevent intimate-partner or domestic violence requires reliable data on the social context of wife-beating, particularly in patriarchal cultures where women have always been subjugated.
The patriarchal culture widespread across sub-Saharan Africa is the bedrock of male dominance that indirectly supports the social acceptance of wife-beating because of the subordinate societal position of women. Within a marriage, in the Nigerian tradition, it is the man who heads the household, the woman who obeys him. In this tradition, violence may be seen as a tool that a man uses to chastise his wife and to correct her mistakes or misdeeds. Despite the widespread societal practice of wife-beating in the developing world, including sub-Saharan Africa, there are still few data on the prevalence, causes, or predictors of acceptance of wife-beating (Hindin 2003; Lawoko 2006). Existing literature on wife-beating in sub-Saharan African countries, including Nigeria, has focused extensively on its actual prevalence and determinants (Diop-Sidibe et al. 2006; Ilika et al. 2002; Koenig et al. 2003; Odujinrin 1993; Okemgbo et al. 2002) and less on the underlying attitudes towards wife-beating. Also, despite the availability of a domestic-violence module in the DHS, with several waves conducted in most countries, no study has examined trends and changes in attitudes towards wife-beating.
In the Nigerian context, scholars have documented a high prevalence of wife-beating. Also, several studies have examined attitudes towards wife-beating and reveal a high prevalence of support for wife-beating among men and women (Ogunjuyigbe et al. 2005; Oyediran and Isiugo-Abanihe 2005; Oyedokun 2007). However, there has been limited examination of trends in the magnitude of wife-beating or factors associated with acceptance of wife-beating among men and women.
Literature from sub-Saharan Africa indicates that although gender-based violence still persists, it seems to be diminishing, either due to increasing advocacy by development program or because of activities emphasizing the attitudinal changes of women. For instance, Pierotti (2013) demonstrated that during the first decades of the millennium, an increasing proportion of women in many sub-Saharan African countries rejected the idea that husbands were justified in beating their wives for any reason. Pierotti gives an example from Ghana, where the proportion of women who rejected justifications for domestic violence decreased from 61.5% in 2003 to 50.5% in 2008 (Pierotti 2013).
Abundant evidence suggests that norms, values, and attitudes are changing globally in ways that should help reduce wife-battering in the future. In Nigeria specifically, there are initiatives at both national and state levels through policies, laws, and legislation to make domestic violence against women socially and culturally unacceptable.
The Nigeria DHS (NDHS) of 2003, 2008, and 2013 present an opportunity to examine emerging trends and patterns in attitudes towards gender norms, using attitudes towards wife-beating as an indicator. This study examines the effect of the personal attributes of Nigerian women—including their social, economic, and demographic characteristics—on their attitudes towards wife-beating. The study also explores patterns of geographic variability in attitudes towards wife-beating across the country.
Theoretical framework and study hypotheses
Most studies show that collectively, patriarchal societies expect women to play certain conventional roles, such as birthing and caring for children, taking care of the house, being subservient to their spouses, and submitting to their husbands’ sexual needs (Hindin 2003; Oyediran and Isiugo-Abanihe 2005; Rani et al. 2004; Lawoko 2006; Lawoko 2008). In male-controlled cultures, changes in what women demand of their sexual partners by the women are cited as a key reason for marital violence (Watts and Mayhew 2004). This study builds on the work of Rani et al. (2004), in assuming in patriarchal societies, transgression on gender roles is seen by both men and women as a justifying condition for violence.
The social learning theory and the socio-ecological model provide the conceptual framework for explaining women’s perceived attitude of justifying wife-beating. This theory posits that people observe and model others’ behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions, particularly those of significant others at home, school, and community levels. Social values, norms, and gender roles in a patriarchal society are conveyed within social groups and diffused from generation to generation. Acceptance of wife-beating is premised on the patriarchal norm of male domination. The effects of changes and adoption of foreign values can alter the social learning process by encouraging individuals (including women) to challenge established social values and question those that cause harm/are no longer acceptable. Rani and colleagues posit that these enabling factors will work through three mechanisms by (1) producing a conflict between reality and the myth of male dominance, (2) exposing to more egalitarian social networks and social structures other than kinship, and (3) exposing communities to modern norms and values through the media (Rani et al. 2004).
Many Nigerian societies maintain rigid gender norms. Many social practices, such as uneven distribution of power in marital relations, polygamy, acceptance of male promiscuity, power of extended family over married couples, restriction of women’s mobility, and the almost universal prevalence of bride wealth, explain the persistence of male superiority and widespread violence against women in Nigerian culture.
Other factors may moderate or influence cultural support for marital violence in Nigeria. Enabling factors—increased access to education, employment in the formal sector, participation in public roles, including the political sphere, and improved fiscal responsibility within the household—may lead women to challenge or question social norms about gender roles. Both education and urbanization may increase the likelihood of women having non-supportive attitude towards wife-beating over time.
However, multi-level factors (at the individual, micro, exo, and macro levels) reinforce cultural norms that condone violent punishment of wives. At the individual level, limitations in education and access to employment represent disabling factors for women. At the micro (household) level, women’s lack of autonomy to make decisions about household purchases can put them at risk. Also, exposure to violence within the family and acceptance of wife-beating to resolve conflicts may perpetuate acceptance of such violence—even if enabling factors are present. For instance, if a woman increases her financial contributions to household expenses, the chance of conflict may increase, because these contributions could diminish men’s authority. Yet men who contribute the bulk of household income would be uninhibited about violence, because they hold fiscal dominance. Similarly, high female autonomy as measured by women’s participation in household decision-making should be associated with reduced acceptance of spouse-beating.
Interlinked factors at the exo level also underpin marital violence. The broader social, political, and economic environment (such as the limited availability of legal redress for battered women and women’s related failure to seek such support) reinforce violence at home. Exo factors also influence the structure and availability of microsystems that can influence the spousal relationship. Finally, normative social values (macro factors) are subject to social, political, and economic conditions (Bukatko and Daehler 2001) that can influence women’s perceptions of wife-beating. Spousal age and differences between spouses’ respective ages can also affect the gender power balance, in that an individual performs unique social roles at specific ages.
The multiple influences mentioned above suggest two study hypotheses about the effects of social learning and socio-ecological models on women’s attitudes towards wife-beating: (1) women who are more educated and who are urban dwellers will have lower odds of reporting that wife-beating is justified and (2) women who belong to ethnic groups or religions with more conservative values, or who live in regions dominated by such groups, or that are populated by groups tending to condone domestic violence, will have higher odds of reporting that wife-beating is justified.