Nigeria’s diamond jubilee beckons while the gender dialogue deters? To be honest, it’s a non-existent conversation. And after six decades of freedom, can we say Nigerian women are free? But the icing on the cake is perhaps the widespread distorted perceptions of the gender challenge that plagues Nigerians. As for culture and religion, they have not helped.
- In Nigeria, over 50% of women rather report incidences of GBV to family members or spiritual leaders (7.9%), over law enforcement (1%).
- Thirty-one percent of married Nigerian women normalise spousal assault;
- Cultural norms in Nigeria have inadvertently promoted gender based violence (GBV);
- There are more instances of intimate partner violence (IPV) over non-partner violence (NPV);
- Rape apologists and stigma surrounding GBV prevent women from seeking help.
Gender-based violence: Prevalence and Perception
Talking about GBV doesn’t make for small talk, or table talk, or any light conversation. But ignoring it will not make it go away. So what is GBV? GBV is any harmful act that is perpetrated against a person’s will, often on the grounds of social (gender) differences. Enshrined within are acts that inflict physical, mental or sexual harm, often depriving the victim of liberty.
Well, if these things happen, why does it suffer from low reportage? One word, culture and stigma; well that’s two words. To be honest, it’s a host of reasons so pardon us if we omit some. For one, you know how corruption has almost become mainstream in Nigeria, that reporting it feels redundant, it’s like that with GBV. To this end, most women rather tell family members (over 50%) or spiritual leaders (7.9%), rather than law enforcement (1%).
Worse still, the stigma of it all prevents them from seeking help at all. Because culture says don’t divorce your husband; a made woman is a married woman. And in some instances, women are blamed for the assault. In Tanzania, of the 44% of women who experience intimate partner violence (IPV), only 10% accessed formal aid services.
Role of social norms in the GBV conversation
Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) have long since provided information on the perceived acceptability of IPV; chief amongst these being the notorious five questions which inquire when spousal assault is justifiable. So, would you beat your partner is she:
- Went out without permission;
- Neglected to keep the children well fed;
- Argues with you in public;
- Refuses to have sexual intercourse;
- Serves dinner late or burns your food (Nigerian NDHS).
Concerning the prefaced circumstances above, 28% of women in Nigeria believe a husband can justifiably beat his wife in at least one instance. Twenty-one percent of male respondents also shared this belief.
For married people, the normalisation of GBV was worse; about 31% percent of married women justified at least one instance of the prefaced conditions. In fact, IPV estimates supersede non-partner violence (NPV) cases in most instances. In Nimba county, for instance, there was a 70% rate of marital rape as against the 2% that accounted for GBV with strangers.
Nigerian culture doesn’t help things
Do it for the culture
For instance, it is customary in some villages in Eastern Nigeria for a widow to drink the “corpse water” of her husband. Even more confusing is that refusal translates to admittance of murder. Alongside this include shaving of her head, crying out aloud; now while common sense says this is dumb, culture says otherwise.
In truth, Nigerians celebrate their culture. “This is the way it has always been…” “What would the elders say…” “This is the way it’s done.” Stop me if you’ve heard at least one of these. Problem though is that some of these cultural norms are now outdated.
Moreover, with over 500 ethnic groups in Nigeria, what norms do we adopt and which do we drop? Again, what happens when they conflict with individual morality – the million naira question and a staple reason for some of the internal conflict we face.
To this end, behavioural psychologists explained theories as to the effects of culture on attitudes. Social psychology even classes these social norms into personal beliefs and projected beliefs, dubbed descriptive and injunctive norms. The latter which refers to influential people’s take on a situation often supersedes the former, your personal beliefs. So when 28% of women surveyed in the 2018 Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) justified what was essentially GBV, you get the picture.
There’s no red pill for GBV
Gender equality is a marathon not a sprint
There is no red pill for the Gender challenge in Nigeria. It is endemic! Just like culture becomes subconscious, the injunctive norms that have informed GBV in Nigeria are often covert. Even for Africa’s poster child for gender equality, Rwanda, female empowerment ends at the front door. So, it becomes fact not cliché saying the race to gender equality is a marathon not a sprint. Or a better analogy would be catch-22. Because culture feeds into mechanisms that tolerate GBV. And for those trapped in abusive situations, normative beliefs that stem from culture normalise their plight.
So, while this places a bleak outlook, it is a conversation we cannot ignore no more. And to be honest, cultural change can take a while. But first steps would be acknowledging the problem. It does start there. No more rationalising or nominalising. Let’s tell ourselves the truth because change starts in the mind.