Domestic violence by women against their intimate partners in Nigeria

Abstract

Victims of domestic violence (DV) are more often than not, women and children. However, studies have shown that men are also victims of DV. The main objective of this article is to assess the predictors of DV against men in Nigeria. Data were generated from the 2013 NDHS. Using SPSS version 21 and multivariate logistic regression analysis, the findings indicated that region, education, marital and employment status, experience of violence and partners’ alcohol consumption were significant predictors of DV against men. Highly educated, divorced and separated, employed women, those respondents whose husbands/partners drank alcohol, women who had experienced domestic violence and those who resided in the North-East (OR=7.967; p<0.001), North-Central (OR=1.623, P<0.05), South-East (OR=2.161; p<0.001) and South-South (OR=1.936 p<0.001) zones were more likely than women from the South West to perpetrate violence against their husbands/partners. We recommend that couples should be counselled and educated about the dangers of domestic violence and vulnerable men should be encouraged to speak out.