GENDER ISSUES IN UXORICIDE; EVIDENCE FROM NIGERIA

Purpose: Uxoricide (the murdering of a wife by the husband) is no longer new in Nigerian societies. It is evidently prevalent in diverse societal norms and often results from intimate partner violence/battery. Although there have been numerous studies on domestic violence and wife battery, little research has focused on the contribution of gender role socialization to incidences of uxoricide. Socialization of expected gender roles is the mirror that reflects societal approval of spousal abuse against women. Method: To support this theoretical discussion, this paper examines information from Nigeria Watch (NW) database, books, journals, articles, and internet commentaries on women murders by intimate partners. Results: Cultural norms and religious doctrines have found convenient ways of imposing genders roles and responsibilities upon men and women. This permits men to subjugate women as a sign of masculinity, which sometimes results to uxoricide; the ultimate form of violence against women. Conclusion: Traditional socialization process moulds boys into aggressive and competitive nature, while the girls are expected to silently tolerate the aggressiveness because it is seen as a symbol of manliness. This paper therefore, argues that the incidents of uxoricide may be understood as an outcome of continuum gender roles socialization. Keywords: Uxoricide; Wife battery; Gender role; Religion; Cultural norm; Socialization

研究目的：杀妻（Uxoricide，即丈夫杀害妻子）在尼日利亚社会早已屡见不鲜。该行为在多元社会规范中普遍存在，且通常由亲密伴侣暴力/虐待所引发。尽管现有针对家庭暴力与妻子虐待的研究数量众多，但鲜有研究聚焦于性别角色社会化（gender role socialization）对杀妻事件发生的推动作用。社会对预期性别角色的社会化塑造，恰似映照社会对配偶虐待女性行为认可程度的一面镜子。研究方法：为支撑本次理论探讨，本文梳理并分析了来自尼日利亚观察（Nigeria Watch，NW）数据库、书籍、期刊、学术文章以及关于亲密伴侣杀害女性的网络评论的相关资料。研究结果：文化规范与宗教教义均通过诸多便捷途径向男性与女性强加了预设的性别角色与责任。这使得男性将压迫女性视作彰显男子气概的标志，此类行为有时会引发杀妻行为——这是针对女性的最极端暴力形式。研究结论：传统社会化过程将男孩塑造成具有攻击性与竞争性的性格，同时要求女孩默默容忍男性的攻击性，因为这被视为男子气概的象征。因此本文主张，杀妻事件可被视为持续的性别角色社会化进程的产物。关键词：杀妻；妻子虐待；性别角色；宗教；文化规范；社会化