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：杀妻行为（Uxoricide，即丈夫杀害妻子）在尼日利亚社会早已并非新鲜议题，其在多元社会规范中广泛流行，且通常由亲密伴侣暴力/虐待引发。尽管现有针对家庭暴力与妻子虐待的研究数量众多，但鲜有探讨性别角色社会化对杀妻行为发生率的影响。预期性别角色的社会化过程，恰似映照社会对配偶虐待女性行为认可度的一面镜子。 研究方法：为支撑本次理论探讨，本文梳理了来自尼日利亚观察（Nigeria Watch，NW）数据库、书籍、期刊、学术论文及网络评论中关于亲密伴侣杀害女性的相关资料。 研究结果：文化规范与宗教教义已形成便捷路径，向男性与女性强加预设的性别角色与责任。这使得男性将支配女性视为彰显男子气概的体现，此类行为有时会升级为杀妻行为——这也是针对女性的极端暴力形式。 研究结论：传统社会化进程将男性塑造为具备攻击性与竞争性的特质，同时要求女性隐忍顺从此类攻击性举动，因其被视作男子气概的体现。因此，本文认为杀妻行为的发生，可被视为连续体式性别角色社会化的产物。 关键词：杀妻行为；妻子虐待；性别角色；宗教；文化规范；社会化