Socio-cultural factors influencing gender-based violence on agricultural livelihood activities of rural households in Ogun State, Nigeria

Abstract

Relationships are socially and culturally constructed. A range of socio-cultural factors such as beliefs, norms, values, taboos, community, expectation, rules, laws and policies, economic and physical resources, technological and ethical factors influence an individual’s attitudes towards behaviour’s in and expectation about relationships. The objective of the study is to analyse socio-cultural factors influencing gender based violence on agricultural livelihood activities of rural household in Ogun State Nigeria. Ogun State Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) has four zones. Multistage sampling techniques were used for this study to select 50% of the zones, blocks, circles and villages respectively. Thereafter, 5 respondents (women) were randomly selected from each village to give a total of two hundred and twenty respondents (220). The statistical tools that were used for analyzing the data include both descriptive statistics and relationship between variables were determined with Pearson Products Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMC) and chi square(x²). The correlation coefficient obtained from the statistical analysis shows that there was a significant relationship between the effect of domestic violence on women agricultural livelihood activities (r = -0.218**, p<0.01). The result of chi-square analysis shows that there is a significant relationship between the effect of domestic violence on women’s agricultural livelihood activities and religion (x2 = 70.29, p<0.05); and educational level (x2 = 43.80, p<0.05); occupation (x2 = 59.26, p<0.05) and member of social organization (x2 = 151.80, p<0.05). Women having alternatives for income generation or minimally viable livelihoods can make the difference between remaining in subservient relationship and destitution. Key words: Gender-based violence, agricultural livelihood, rural households.