Differentials and Predictors of IPV against Nigerian Women in Rural and Urban Areas

Abstract

ABSTRACT Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a reality the average Nigerian woman has to grapple with every day. Various studies have investigated the factors associated with IPV against women, but there has been a paucity of studies undertaken on the comparative analysis of IPV against women in different places of residence in Sub Saharan Africa. Thus, this study examines the comparative prevalence and predictors of physical, sexual, and emotional IPV among women in rural and urban areas in Nigeria. The study employed the 2013 Nigerian Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) data, and the subsample for this study were married women in Nigeria (N = 26,403). The study reveals several factors that associated with IPV cut across rural and urban areas, like the history of abuse and husband alcohol consumption, while several factors of IPV are peculiar to urban areas (like employment status and age predicting physical IPV), and rural areas (like wealth index and religion predicting physical IPV). The study points out the complex nature of IPV among Nigerian women and this implies that the critical health and support structures and policies for IPV victims should account for the residential context that shapes the victims’ socio-demographic status and abusive experiences.