Perceived Sociocultural Factors Associated with Violence Against Men and Preventive Strategies for its Reduction among Married Men in Ibadan, Nigeria
Abstract:
Domestic abuse against males is
prevalent yet often undetected due to societal silence and stigma; this paper
explores the sociocultural factors and preventive strategies for addressing
Violence Against Men (VAM) among married men in Ibadan, Nigeria. This study
employed a descriptive mixed-method approach in Ibadan's five LGAs,
administering 600 semi-structured questionnaires to married men and conducting
20 FGDs with community gatekeepers, with data analyzed using NVivo 10 for
qualitative data and SPSS for quantitative data. Respondents, aged 23-64 with a
mean of 45.07 years, mostly had secondary education (47.7%), were artisans
(47.2%), Muslims (61.2%), and Yorubas (95.3%). Among them, 90.7% believed heavy
alcohol and drug use by women could lead to abuse, 69.8% felt financial
superiority could cause abuse, and FGD participants identified factors like
social and educational status, cultural beliefs, employment, and lack of home
training as contributors to domestic violence against men. Preventive
strategies for reducing the violence against men mentioned by the respondents
include public enlightenment using mass and social media and the provision of
counselling services, including premarital counselling. Legal provisions should
be introduced to protect men from violence or threats of violence directed
against them by their abusive partners.
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