Poverty, decline in moral, cultural values, responsible for hike in domestic violence – NAN survey
Values
Bauchi, May 27, 2018 (NAN) Respondents to a survey on domestic violence have attributed the increase in violent acrimony at the home-front to decline in moral and cultural values, as well as non-adherence to the dictates of the two major religions.
In the survey conducted by News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), respondents in Bauchi, Yobe, Adamawa and neighbouring Jigawa States, also cited economic factor as another major contributor to the menace.
They further noted that unlike in the past when women constituted the bulk of victims of domestic violence in homes, the gap had reduced, with a number of cases of men falling victims of their over-domineering wives.
Dr Aminu Kyante, a Psychologist and lecturer with the Department of Guidance and Counseling, Federal College of Education, Yola, said the increase in cases of fatal domestic violence was as a result of collapse of social values and morality.
“Lack of tolerance and collapse of social values caused by many factors, including drug abuse and copying foreign culture, are among the factors responsible for domestic violence, ” Kyante said.
Mrs Rebecca John, an official of Adamawa Widows Association, said that women sometimes become violent in their homes as means of responding to oppression by men.
John also attributed most of domestic violence to psychological trauma most women underwent in their homes.
She noted that the African culture did not favour women in decision making and also made them vulnerable to all types of oppression.
Sheikh Yunus Ahmadu, an Islamic scholar in Yola, said ignorance and abject poverty were some of the factors responsible for domestic violence.
He also noted that the adoption of alien culture had contributed significantly to increase in violence in families, adding that the only solutions to the trend is to educate the society about the responsibilities and cultural values of living together as couples.
A social commentaror in Dutse, Alhaji Muhammad Kwalam, observed that domestic violence was responsible for the break in most homes in the country.
According to him, this development has led to improper upbringing of children, with disastrous consequences on the society.
He said that in the past, men were mainly responsible for such violence, but women had now joined the fray.
“In those days, it was mostly men that maltreated women but the reverse is almost the case now.
Alhaji Rabiu Nasoro, the Director, Social Welfare, Jigawa Ministry of Women Affairs, said many factors came to play in the new dimension of social violence.
According to him, many men give false impression of their financial status before marriage and therefore encounter difficulty living up to the needs of their spouses.
He said another reason was ‘role conflict’, especially when wives attained certain position of social or economic influence, and probably relegated their husbands to the background.
Nasoro also said neglect or the attitude of some husbands who often shifted their responsibilities to their wives by failing to provide the basic social needs of the family could automatically lead to disagreement and graduate to violence.
Also concurring with the views of other respondents, an octogenarian in Damaturu, Alhaji Abubakar Usman, observed that the decline in moral and cultural values, as well as the increase in drug abuse, were major factors.
“Culturally, the husband is the head of the family and must command respect, but these days, the woman takes over, especially if she is wealthy.
“The wife’s lack of respect for the husband leads to the transfer of such habit to her daughters; when the daughters get married, they imitate their mother and if they happen to have impatient husbands, hell will let loose,” he said.
Hajiya Rakiya Aliyu, a house wife and retired civil servant in Damaturu, attributed the increase in domestic violence in Nigeria to drug abuse.
“Many families, especially young couples, both husband and wife, abuse drugs and most times engage in conflicts.
“The banned codeine was consumed in many families by both the husband and wife, sometimes involving young babies,” she said.
Considering the negative effect of domestic violence on the socio-economic well-being of the society, a clergy in Bauchi, Malam Babangida Alaramma, said people needed to be sensitised to appreciate the evils of domestic violence.
“Except in self-defence, people need to know that application of violence can never be justified,” he said.
Dr Filibus Sani, a Sociologist in Bauchi, described domestic violence as a violent or aggressive behaviour in the home, involving the violent abuse of a spouse or a partner.
Sani said traditional and religious leaders had a role to play by sensitising the public on the dangers of violence.
“Unfortunately, battering and trafficking have become part of us as we wake up daily to hear of them (battering and trafficking) over the radio, watch them on the television and read them in daily newspapers and social media,” he said.
According to him, any form of violence in a family could lead to disharmony, and by extension, impoverish the family.
“Couples should seek additional knowledge to maximally unleash their potentials.
“Gender equality does not mean women ruling over men, rather, it guarantees a level playing field, devoid of all forms of discrimination.
“There was a man that was said to have committed suicide because he had been subjected to emotional trauma, physical abuse and harassments by his wife.
“For the better part of their marriage of a decade and a half years, fighting and verbal assault were said to have been a trademark of the marriage,” he said.
He lamented that such incident was just one of the many cases of domestic violence that had gradually become regular occurrence in the country.
He said something needed to be done urgently to curb the growing trend that cut across all strata.
An elderly woman in Bauchi, Mrs Rabi Baba, aged 78, said that the increase in cases of domestic violence was due to westernisation, noting that spouses no longer treated each other with respect, dignity, honour, trust and love.
“Nowadays, spouses believe marriage is just about love; westernisation has flushed out some of our standard cultural practices that had impacted positively on our lives.
“Cheating, in all its ramifications, has become a fashionable attribute in young people, as such there will always be disagreement that will turn violent,” she said.
Mrs Larai Bishams, an official of an NGO in Bauchi, Heal Ability Initiative, opined that economic depression could result in frustration that would lead to domestic violence.
According to her, lack of adequate source of income tends to create avenue for myopic thinking over little issues, and the bubble gets burst at the home-front.
In her contribution, the Chairperson, Bauchi chapter of the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Mrs Bulak Afsa, said that domestic violence had to do with inadequacy of tolerance among the spouses.
She therefore said tolerance was key to ensuring peace and tranquility at home. (NAN)
Reporters/ASH/MST
Edited by Abdullahi Salihu/Muhammad Suleiman Tola
