Wife battering in Nigeria.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the prevalence, types and regularity of spouse abuse among Nigerian women. The effects of socio-economic status, education and alcohol consumption were also investigated.


METHODS
Questionnaire survey of 1000 randomly chosen Nigerian women was undertaken.


RESULTS
Wife abuse was found to be as prevalent in Nigeria as in other parts of the world, 81.0% of the respondents had suffered either verbal abuse (68.6%) or both physical and verbal abuse (31.4%); occasionally (77.4%), regularly (16.2%) or always (6.0%), Almost half of them (46.2%) were abused in the presence of their children. Education and occupation were found to influence the prevalence, type and regularity of abuse and their children witnessing the abuse.


CONCLUSIONS
Wife battering has been found to be very prevalent in Nigeria. However, further research is needed to identify the causes and the psychological effects on these women and their children. This information will be invaluable for designing appropriate medico-social rehabilitation for them.
Odujinrin
O
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Department of Community Health, College of Medicine, Lagos, Nigeria.
D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009549:Nigeria / Q000453:epidemiology; D009790:Occupations; D015995:Prevalence; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology