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

目的：在尼日利亚社会中，丈夫杀害妻子的行为已非新现象。此现象显然在多元的社会规范中普遍存在，往往源于亲密伴侣间的暴力或虐待。尽管有众多关于家庭暴力和妻子虐待的研究，但鲜有研究聚焦于性别角色社会化对杀害妻子案件发生率的贡献。对预期性别角色的社会化是反映社会对配偶虐待女性行为认可程度的镜子。方法：为支持这一理论讨论，本文检视了尼日利亚守望（NW）数据库、书籍、期刊、文章及互联网评论中关于亲密伴侣谋杀女性案件的信息。结果：文化规范和宗教教义为强加性别角色和责任找到了便捷的方式。这使男性得以将女性视为男性的象征以示其男性气概，有时导致杀害妻子，这是对女性实施的终极暴力。结论：传统的社会化过程将男孩塑造成具有攻击性和竞争性的性格，而女孩则被期望默默忍受这种攻击性，因为这是男性气概的象征。因此，本文认为杀害妻子的案件可能是性别角色社会化连续过程的后果。关键词：杀害妻子；妻子虐待；性别角色；宗教；文化规范；社会化