Religious fundamentalism or Receptivity: Interrogating married women’s reactionary behaviours to husbands in Nigeria

Abstract

Contrary to popular opinion that women typically are victims of domestic and intimate partner violence, the experiences in Nigeria reveals a surge in the number of reported cases where men are victims and women are perpetrators of these forms of violence. Previous gender related studies have concentrated on investigating violence against women in Nigeria, but there is a dearth of studies on male victimhood in Nigeria. The study adopted the case study research design for an in-depth study of the situation in Nigeria. The study anchored on the secondary method of data collection, published and unpublished documents including books, journals, the internet and newspapers were used. The study adopted the frustration-aggression theory. The study argues that the patriarchal culture expects men to be dominant figures in relationships and within the household but when they fail to conform to socio-religious and moral expectations, they become vulnerable to various forms of aggression and violence. The study, consequently, concludes that the violent attitude of women in Nigeria today is construed by the perceived victimization and marginalization in their familial relationships with their partners. Furthermore, in order to get a broader outlook on the phenomenon, this paper interrogates how religious morality and fundamentalism affects Nigerian women and propels their violent reactionary behaviours towards their husbands during family conflict.