As at mid-2017, life expectancy at birth in the Gambian is 60 years for men and 62 for women. This is relatively higher compared to other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, such as Nigeria (52 years for males, and 54 years for females) and Sierra Leone (51 male, 52 for females) (PRB, 2017, p. 9). The Gambia has a high total fertility rate of 5.5, thus, about 46% of her population are younger than 15 years while only a small proportion of 2% are as old as 65 years and above (PRB, 2107, p. 9). The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) gives the following summary estimate on life in the Gambia as well as its gender relations.

In summary, Gambia is a developing with much attachment mostly to the Islamic tenets, at least theoretically, but mingled with strong traditional and patriarchal dispositions towards the female gender. This is reflected especially in relationships between a man and his wife or female partner as have been briefly described above. Note that despite the presence of some individuals of the Christian faith, Mr. Yahyah Jammeh, the erstwhile President of the Gambia had,contrary to minority interests, declared the country an Islamic state on December 11, 2015 (Vines, BBC Report, 2016). This declaration was also fundamentally contrary to the Country's Constitution that provided and supported a secular state where everyone would be free to practice their faith (International Religious Freedom Report, 2016). Although such declaration was recalled as it was met with stiff opposition from concerned individuals from within the country, but much more from the international scenes (). This was cited to demonstrate that laws might sometimes be “pushed aside” in many proclaiming democracies. And this reality could also apply to the social reality of female or gender relations in the Gambia and elsewhere where such practices are condoned. Regrettably, this nuances the state of affairs in the Sierra Leone where while there are indeed “many” laws proscribing gender-based violence, yet more women than in the Gambia currently report domestic and Intimate partner violence.

It is in the interest of this paper therefore to investigate quantitatively socio-cultural, attitudinal, demographic as well as economic factors associated with women experience of IPVAW in the Gambia and to relate this findings to other two west African countries of similar historical colonial experience- Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

1.2.1.2 The Sierra Leone Ethnic, Socio-Demographic and Cross-Cultural Gender Relations

Sierra Leone currently has an estimated total population of 7.6 million people as at mid-July 2017 (PRB, 2017, p. 8), that is, about three times the population size of the Gambia. Nationally, about 54% of Sierra Leonean women are within the age bracket of 15-64 years (PRB, 2017, p. 8).

Figure 5: The Map of Sierra Leone in Africa and on World Map

Traditionally, there are about 15 ethnic groups comprising the modern day Sierra Leone; English is spoken as the official language (Statistics Sierra Leone & ICF International, 2014, p. 2), reflecting its British colonial history. The country is arranged into 4 levels: regions, districts, chiefdoms and councils. More precisely, there are 4 regions in all. The regions are sub-divided to give 14 districts and 109 chiefdoms in all. There are also 5 city councils among which is the Country's capital - Freetown. When added, the districts and city councils give nineteen (19) local councils in total (SSL & ICF International, 2014, p. 2)

There are more female than male in Sierra Leone at all age groups except for the infants (World Bank, 2017 data).

Figure 1: Population Pyramid of Sierra Leone, 2016

In Sierra Leone, Christianity and Islam are the two main religions. Meanwhile the majority profess to belong to the Islamic religion (about 78.0%), while about 20.9% are Christians. Other religious groups include the Bahais, traditional, Buddhism, Jews and non-religious, but these are at most less than 1% each (Global Religious Futures Project, 2018). According to the general population census report, the Muslims were primarily of the Sunni, while the Christians comprise Anglicans, Protestants, the Roman Catholics, the Maronite Catholics and the Greek Orthodox. There are also Rastafarian community and members of the Church of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons) (Global Security, 2018). However, the majority are Muslims.

Majority of the households are polygynous (74.8%) and more than an entire half (58%) of the women population were reported to be non-literates, especially those in rural areas (69%) as at 2008 (African Development Bank Group, 2011, p.28). This varies greatly by regions, reporting worse indices for some. BY 2013 DHS survey, the level of literacy among women did not show any sign of improvement, it was actually worse. The 2013 DHS report showed that only 36% of the women were literate nationally while 52% of the men were. By implication, as at 2013, 64% of the women compared to 48% of men were not literates (Statistics Sierra Leone & ICF International, 2014, p.33).

The effects of the 11-year long civil war from 1991 to 2002 and a subsequent outbreak of the ebola virus had brought in dire poverty and untold hardship in this West African country of 7.6 million people. As at 2003, one-year after the war, female-headed households showed lower poverty rates compared to men; but this difference dissolved later (the World Bank Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Unit, 2014, p. 7). There is actually hardly any difference in poverty rate between female-headed households and male-headed households in Sierra Leone (World Bank, 2014, p. 8).

Sierra Leone is one of the poorest countries in Africa and vis-à-vis in the world, with an estimated Gross National Income per capita of 1, 320 (USD, PPP) and equally demonstrated the highest infant mortality rate in the western coast of Africa at 92 per 1,000 live births (PRB, 2017). Although the rate of poverty rate is reported to have been on the decrease between 2003 till 2011 using an annual 1.6% increase observed in real household expenditure per capital within the said period (the World Bank Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Unit, 2014, p. 5). Notwithstanding, the question is how does this translate to the wellbeing of women and betterment in gender relation issues in Sierra Leone, especially at interpersonal and household level?

Most women still depend on men for economic assistance in the Sierra Leone (MAWGCA, 2014). One reason for this is the age-long derivation of women from equal economic opportunities as men, just as it is typical in most patriarchal societies (MAWGCA, 2014). Nationally, there are about 25.8% of the households headed by women with about 47.5% of them living below the poverty line compared to 43.8% of male headed households as at 2011 (MAWGCA, 2014, p. 17). Women in rural areas are particularly at more disadvantage and experience higher levels of poverty compared to their urban counterparts (MAWGCA, 2014).

As in most patriarchal society, gender stereotypes exist in Sierra Leone. Women are less likely to be educated, especially up to secondary school level and as such less likely to secure lucrative employment necessary and sufficient for financial and economic autonomy. It is important to note that although since the rate of absolute poverty is high in the country, a number of working wives are able to fend for themselves and assume little sense of the word “autonomy” (Egbejule, 2017). However, this has been known to stir up reactions of jealousy from husbands (husband control factor) thus smacking off instances of IPV against such women (Egbejule, 2017). Men should assume “absolute dominance”! That seems to be the prevailing ideology. Recently, a report of family violence in a typical Sierra Leonean household was done by the Thompson Reuters Foundation of a man. Kanu, aged 52 years, who constantly harasses (beats up) his wife Aminata, aged 18, and their 5 children- an act which was reported to have been triggered off by Kanu's jealousy of “his working wife”. Kanu had this to say when he was interviewed:

Kanu: “She was provoking me because she pays the bills by selling the potatoes and groundnuts she grows. I had no job… . “If any of our five children misbehaved and I beat them, she would come to question me about it, and I beat her too”

(Thomson Reuters Foundation, 2017)

Today, with the hope of reducing gender-based violence in Sierra Leone, the community “Husband Schools” handled by social workers have been established (Egbejule, 2017). Men attend classes monthly and are taught to avoid domestic violence, FGM and other forms of gender based violence (GBV).

Suffice it to mention that there are many laws already enacted in Sierra Leone to cushion and eradicate all forms of violence against women, most in tandem with international regulations, conventions and policies to which the country is a signatory. List below are some of these national and international laws designed to regulating (all) forms of gender relations.

Gender Laws in Sierra Leone

Many laws to for the women and children's rights include:

The Anti-Human Trafficking Act (2005),

The Sierra Leone Citizenship Amendment Act (2006),

The Prevention and Control of HIV/AIDS Act (2007); and

In addition, to these, there are three acts on gender relations:

The "Gender Acts (2007) on domestic violence, customary marriages and divorces and the devolution of estates;

The Child Rights Act (2007),

The Sexual Offences Act (2012).

There are two national policies besides these:

National Policy on the Advancement of Women and

The National Policy on Gender Mainstreaming

Despite these laws, cases of IPV are still prevalent and much gaps exist in gender relation in Sierra Leone (African Development Bank Group, 2011). To this end, the last two national policies are currently undergoing adjustments with the aim of being merged into one as proposed a supposedly stronger "National Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment Policy."

Sierra Leone is a signatory to the following international scripts and recognizes their laws and recognizes the legitimacy

CEDAW - Convention on the Elimination of ALL forms of Discrimination Against Women (1993)

The Maputo Protocol - This resulted in the enacted of Gender Laws in Sierra Leone

Article 18 of the African Charter of 1995 on the Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and the protection of women's rights in tandem with the ratification of international conventions and declarations ( see ACHPR, 1995; p. 2)

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

The International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) on 16 December 1966, to take effect ten years after (in 1976)

The African Charter and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC) (1990; reviewed in 2001)

The United Nations Plans of Action on the Environment and Development in 1992

The United Nations Plans of Action on Human Rights in 1993,

The United Nations Plans of Action on Population and Development in 1994

The United Nations Plans of Action on Social Development in 1995, among others.

1.2.1.3 The Nigeria Ethnic, Socio-Demographic and Cross-Cultural Gender Relations

According to the 2006 General Census Report, the total population of Nigeria was 140,437,790 (Males - 71315488, 50.8%; Females - 69122302, 49.2%) across (NPC, 2007). Among these, Nigeria was reported to have a youthful population in which about 45% of her population was below 15 years of age. Facts about each of the six geo-political zones, their population and internal distribution by sex are presented in Table and Figures below.

Table: Distribution of Each Geo-Political Zones' Population by Sex in Absolute Numbers and Percentages, Using NPC 2006 National General Census Report

Source: National Population Commission, Nigeria 2006 General Census Report, sorted by the Author.

Figures: Nigeria's Population Distribution Across the Geo-Political Zones By Sex

From the foregoing, it is evidenced that the North West constitutes the largest share of the population of Nigeria (Figures above), and generally in all and in each zone, there are more males than females, providing us a sex ratio of 103.3 (NPC, 2007). According to the report, Nigeria has a youthful population in which approximately 42% of the population are younger than 15 years, about 49% are in age group 15 to 49 (productive and reproductive population), and only 9% of her population are older than 50 years.

Northern Nigeria, Its Geo-Political Zones and Population Characteristics

Three geo-political zones are concentrated here: North Central, North East and North West GPZs. According to the 2006 General Housing Census Report data, Northern Nigeria is inhabited by some 75,239,722 people (50.57% females, and 50.96% males), constituting 53.6% of the total population of Nigeria. The largest ethnic groups in northern Nigeria are the Hausa and Fulani, and these have been Muslims since the 11th century (Mkpa, 2000). Since Nigeria's return to democratic regime in 1999, all the states in northern Nigeria (with exclusion of those in North Central zone) have one after the other since year 2000 employed the Sharia Islamic Law as the law for adjudication despite resistance from non-Muslim Nigerians residing in the areas.

The major means of subsistence in northern Nigeria is majorly agriculture - the Hausas are majorly traditionally farmers while the Fulanis engage in nomadic cattle-rearing. Prior to the Nigerian “Dutch Disease” experience in which the Federal Government of Nigeria substituted agriculture as a major source of foreign earnings with exports of crude oil products in the 1970's era of oil boom, the Hausas were renowned for growing of cash crops like rubber and cotton and food crops that were mainly cereals - beans, millet, wheat, corn, and so on. Nowadays, the Hausas though are still predominantly farmers, a good number are into trading of agricultural products. Suffice it to mention that the long-term adherence to agricultural activities have been associated with low human development index and poverty (Eze, Okpala, & Ogbodo, 2014).

According to current situation report by Eze, et al., (2014) across Nigeria's geo-political zones, “education improves the welfare of households, while households engaged in agricultural activities have relatively lower activities” (Eze et al., 2014). Today, more than 59.5% in North Central, 69% in the North West and 70.0% in the North East geo-political zones are in abject poverty (UNDP Nigeria Millennium Development Goals 2013, cited in ACFI and IRIS, 2016. There are sharp inequalities in human capital and development between northern and southern zones in Nigeria so much that it ranks among the top in the world (Eze, Okpala, & Ogbodo, 2014; ACFI and IRIS, 2016), with the north demonstrating far lower standards of living compared to the South. Sadly, this situation of inequality has been worsened in northern Nigeria through the direct (and aftermath) devastating activities of the Islamic terrorist sect - the Boko Haram - mainly situated in the North Eastern GPZ, since 2009, and has spread to many other part of North Central and North West GPZs (Caulderwood, 2014; Batten-Carew, 2016). This has brought untold hardships on a number of people as many houses have been razed, property looted, girls kidnapped and forcefully married off, previously insufficient infrastructure demolished, many “household breadwinners” maimed, wounded, killed, and many have been left internally displaced in the North East region.

From the foregoing, women in northern Nigeria are arguably the most negatively affected group as they possess very little economic power, have large number of dependent children (more than they wantedvery little education if at all, human capital. Subsequent section on Data Analysis will discuss this in greater details, but suffice it to mention that as already discussed earlier, women in northern Nigeria have higher number of dependent children, are less economically active and are usually in polygynous unions. A summary insight into the daily life situation of women in northern Nigeria are somewhat summarized in Callaway's (1987) socio-anthropological study reported in her “Muslim Hausa Women in Nigeria: Tradition and Change” in which she posits that “[the] study of Hausa women reveals the pressures for change in the status of women in a deeply conservative Islamic society.” According to her, “Hausa girls marry young, (generally from) the onset of puberty, [and] upon marriage most females enter 'kulle', or seclusion, (thus) rarely leaving their homes…” (Callaway, 1987; excerpts gotten online). Also, “educational opportunities are extremely limited, [with] illness(es) and needless deaths [being] commonplace… Polygamy is widely practised” (Callaway, 1987). It is noteworthy to mention here that upon entering marriage most women in Northern Nigeria are less educated, hardly engaged in any form of commercial activities compared to their southern counterparts and rank very low using the Gender Development Measure (GDM) and the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) (see Table 4.6).

According to the 2013 NDHS report, at age fifteen and eighteen years, 21.2% and 57.2% of all women sampled in northern Nigeria have already experienced their first childbirth compared to 10.2% and 20.0% of women of same age in southern Nigeria. This indicates a high level of early sexual exposure among girls and young women in northern Nigeria compared to southern Nigeria (see Table 2.3 and Figure 2.3). Likewise, same data reveals that at least 50.5% and 26.7% of women have at least 3 and 5 living or dependent children, implying a very large household (NPC and ICF Macro, 2014). More so, it could also reflect the very low level of educational enrolment and among females in northern Nigeria. According to the Gender in Nigeria Report (2012), “Nigeria has the largest number of out of school children in the world … [about] 70.8% of young women (between ages of) 20-29 in the North West” GPZ are illiterates (Gender in Nigeria Report, 2012). Educational enrollment is generally very low in northern Nigeria especially among women (see subsequent Section on Data Analysis in this paper for greater details).

It may be necessary to give a special attention to the North Central zone than the other two northern GPZs who share much similar characteristics mainly described above. In partial contrast, the North Central GPZ shares certain similar characteristics identical with both northern and southern zones of Nigeria, and reflects an agglomeration of a heterogeneous population. The zone is somewhat situated in the central part of the country, in between the north and south poles and comprises 6 independent states (Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Nassarawa, Niger, and Plateau) as well as the Federal Capital Territory Abuja. According to the 2006 General Census, it is has almost an even distribution of males and Females as 50.8% and 49.2%, respectively.. It also comprises numerous ethnic groups, dominant among which as reported by State are the Gbagyi, Tiv, Idoma (Benue), Gwandara (Abuja), Nupe, Igala, Ebira (Kogi), among others. (NBS, 2013). This region is occupied by some 20,339,956 people (28.89% of the Nigerian total population at 2006) (See Table 2.1). The zone is inhabited by a mixture of Christians, Muslims and Traditionalists and thus has a hybrid of northern and southern Nigeria characteristics. It is instructive to note that the North Central geo-political zone is the only non-Sharia zone in Northern Nigeria (OpenDoorsUk.org, 200).

In conclusion, if low educational status, high number of dependent children, polygamy, and poverty are strong correlates of intimate partner violence, one would expect IPV to be much prevalent in northern Nigeria. These factors are tested in this paper and result presented under Data Analysis of this paper.

Southern Nigeria, Geo-Political Zones and Population Characteristics

The sharp differences between northern Nigeria and southern Nigeria have been of major concern in many studies (Eze, Okpala, & Ogbodo, 2014; Gender in Nigeria Report, 2012) with the southern states displaying much higher levels of economic and human developments. Southern Nigeria also involves three GPZs: South East (dominated by the Igbo/Ibo ethnic tribe), South West (Yoruba dominated) and South South (a mixture of many ethnic groups such as the Bini, the Ijaw/Izon, the Ibibio, the Itshekiri, and others).

According to the last General Census Report (see Table 2.1), southern Nigeria has a total population of 65,198,068 (50.57% males; 49.43% females) and constituted 46.2% of the total population of Nigeria (NPC, 2007). Although as at 2013, the National Population Commission (2014) reported that the southern zones have the largest share of the richest populations in Nigeria (see Table 2.4; and Figure 2.5; NPC 2014), however, educational attainment have not followed similar pattern (Eze, Okpala, & Ogbodo, 2014), though they are generally more educated than northern GPZs with exception of the North Central GPZ..

The traditional means of livelihood in southern Nigeria is agriculture (farming mostly in South West and South East, and fishing in South South). However, the discovery of crude oil in large commercial quantity and the attendant oil spillages in the South South Niger Delta region have been reported to have damaged many farmlands and polluted many water bodies, forced many to abandon farming as some migrated to other regions in southern Nigeria, increased the rate of poverty and hunger, mainly among the uneducated and unemployed natives (The Guardian, 2014; Eze, Okpala, & Ogbodo, 2014). The high level of education in southern Nigeria has brought about better human development of both males and females in southern Nigeria, ability to work in the formal sector and hold managerial positions and attendant higher levels on the wealth index compared to the northern zones.

It is instructive to note that unlike in the South West GPZ which ranked the wealthiest zone in Nigeria (see Table 2.4) mainly as a result of high human capital, being one of the products of historical long-term investment in education in this zone (Fafunwa, 1974), and the South South oil rich zone (second wealthiest zone), pattern of wealth in the South East zone has not been a product of education, but massive engagement in trading and commercial activities (Eze, Okpala, & Ogbodo, 2014). South East GPZ ranked the third wealthiest zone on the wealth index, meanwhile, North Central has the largest share of people in the Middle (Rich) Class category (Table 2.4). Nonetheless, a level of inequality is observed in Southern Nigeria as well using the Gini-Coefficient (Table 2.4).

See the Table and Figure below:

Table Percent Distribution of the De Jure Population by Wealth Quintiles and the Gini Coefficient By Region in Nigeria

In Figure the above, it is visible that as the arrow moves from northern Nigeria to southern Nigeria, we see the decrease in poverty and increase in wealth, and vice versa. Please, note that I have somewhat positioned the North Central geo-political zone in-between the two poles. This helps to see the picture clearer than following mere alphabetical arrangement. To this end, poverty is endemic in northern Nigeria than in southern Nigeria.

Notwithstanding, southern Nigeria has certain features that may trigger abuse of women, especially IPV as studied in this paper. Most men in southern Nigeria, especially in the South South GPZ, have high rate of alcohol consumption. Historically, alcohol plays a very great role in the traditions, customs and socio-cultural relations of most ethnic groups in southern Nigeria; it is usually served at traditional ceremonies (marriage, naming, wedding, chieftaincy, etc.) and other rites. In the past, it was usually consumed only by adult males while it was a taboo for females and youths; however, today, societal changes have witnessed a growing number of females now take alcohol in public (Dumbili, 2013). Common traditional and mostly local alcoholic brands consumed in Southern Nigeria included “ogogoro” (in Yoruba -South West - it is a locally brewed dry gin), “emu oguro” - palm wine (fondly called `palmie' in colloquial English among indigenes from South South and South East), apeteshi, Aromatic Schnapp (mostly revered among local drinkers for being imported), Chelsea, and others. Today, a great number of alcoholic drinks (both imported and locally brewed) are available in Nigeria and can be easily purchased over the counter in bars, restaurants, many small-sized shops, a number of which are preponderant all over Nigeria, especially in Southern Nigeria. Table 4.5 and 4.6 shows WHO (2014) report on substance (alcohol) abuse in Nigeria. Obviously, Nigerians abuse alcohol above the WHO Africa Region average.

Table 2.5: Nigeria Alcohol per capita (15+) Consumption (in litres of pure alcohol)

Table 2.6: Prevalence of heavy episodic drinking (%), Nigeria 2010 - WHO, 2014

Table 2.6: Prevalence of heavy episodic drinking (%), Nigeria 2010 - WHO, 2014

From the foregoing, it stands to reason that if alcohol is a strong determinant of IPV, then there will be high incidences and prevalence of IPV in southern Nigeria. All factors highlighted so far both in Northern and Southern Nigeria makes it interesting to know where IPV is most prevalent in Nigeria among the geo-political Zones as well as the predisposing factors (and relative strengths of each) to influence the occurrence and prevalence of IPV in Nigeria. The findings will be helpful in understanding the dynamics of IPV factors and could inform policy making decisions to mitigate the current prevalence of IPV in Nigeria as well as the other two countries - the Gambia and Sierra Leone.

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

This section provides an important, critical, background review of previous studies on the prevalence and socio-cultural, demographic and economic dimensions of intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) in intimate heterosexual relationships from different countries of the world. It should be reiterated that the main objective of this study is to unravel factors that are consistent in their relationship to IPVAW beyond national boundaries. Likewise, although several studies exist tracing the potential risk and protective factors of IPVAW, differences in methodology makes comparing their findings challenging. To this end, this chapter reviews carefully selected examples of previous literatures and theories on IPVAW.

For sake of analysis, previous literature reviewed here are sub-divided under historical and contemporary headings. While the historical context of IPVAW seeks for trace the origin of IPVAW in history, the contemporary context discusses findings of recent studies on prevalence and correlates or determinants of IPVAW.

2.2 Defining Intimate Partner Violence

According to the World Health Organization (2012), IPV is defined as “any behavior within an intimate relationship that causes physical, psychological or sexual harm to those in that relationship” (WHO, 2012). Such behavior could include: (i.) Physical acts of aggression such as “slapping, hitting, kicking or beating”, (ii) “Psychological abuse (intimidation, constant belittling and so on) (iii) Sexual abuse or rape, (iv) Husband's wife control behavior such as limiting a woman's movement, exercising acts of jealousy or being unnecessarily suspicious of her, thus, limiting her freedom (WHO, 2012). At least, manifesting any of these can be rightly termed IPV.

According to Breiding, Basile, Smith, Black and Mahendra (2015), violence against women could be perpetrated by either or both former or present spouses, “boyfriends or girlfriends, dating partners, ongoing sexual partners” whether co-habiting or not. However, the current study investigates only violence in heterosexual relationships in tandem with most studies in Africa (NPC, 2014).

2.3 IPV, VAW and Waves of Feminist Movements to Eradicate IPV in the World

It is not clear the origin of violence against women, however, it seems agreed that wife beating has been an age-long phenomenon and has persisted for many centuries. In a recent article titled the “Origins of Violence Against Women,” the Public Broadcasting Service (2016) traced the origin of IPV to the Roman law empowered and entrusted a man with absolute authority over his wife both in life and in death more than 2,000 years ago (PRS, 2016). According to them, this would later influence the English common law of the 18th century which gave men permissions “to discipline in their wives and children”, however, “with a stick or whip no wider than his thumb” (PBS, 2016; Fox, 2002). They argued that this remained the legacy until the late XIX Century in Europe and America (PBS, 2016).

In a bid to rid America and later other parts of the world from discrimination against women and promote gender equality, three historical waves of the feminist movements have been identified. In first wave in the 19th century, spanning between 1830's to early 1900's, witnessed women's fight for equal contracts and property rights, as well as their demand for equal political power as men after realizing the importance of political engagements in a bid to bring about the change they desired.

The second wave, occurring after the World War II, between 1960's to 1980's, witnessed women strategically canvassing for equality of rights in the workplace, family. Their demands also included issues related to their sexual and reproductive health. This also witnessed the rise of feminists and other related-course movements such as “the Black Civil Rights Movement, Homosexuals, Anti-Vietnam Movement, Chicano Rights Movement, Radical Feminism (radical-Libertarian, radical-cultural, etc.) and others (Dorey-Stein, 2015).

The third mainstream wave, one lasting hitherto, was smacked off in the 1990's. This has witnessed the emergence of various definitions, branches, outlooks, perspectives and courses of feminism and outright bid for gender equality, eradication of all forms of oppression not only against women and girls, but also against the minority, the less privileged and any group perceived of suffering from marginalization. It also witnesses different feminist perspective such as, Ego-Cultural Feminism, Liberals/Reforms Feminism, Electoral Feminism, Academic Feminism, Ecofeminism, Socialist/Marxian Feminism, and Black Feminism, among others (Heywood and Drake, 1997; Hekman, 1997; Collins, 2002; Garner and Enns, 2012; Dorey-Stein, 2015).

In summary, modern feminism has taken different forms and advanced beyond its infant stage. Notwithstanding, the prevalence and proliferation of intimate partner violence still constitutes a major setback in the realization of global gender equality goal. The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, the ratification of CEDAW on 18 December 1979 to which 189 States were parties (Nigeria inclusive) and signed by 99 countries, and the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women in 1993 are very pivotal in the bid to promote gender equality and eradicate all forms of VAW (UN, 2017), however, instances of violence against women are still much prevalent. Several factors have been identified in literatures to have been responsible for fostering the prevalence of IPV in different cultures and countries. Prevalence and Justification of Violence Against Women

Studies conducted in and across many countries and continents across the globe have shown that there is high prevalence of wife beating in all countries and continents of the world despite their level of wealth, economic development and pro-gender equality campaigns. In 2015, a summary of findings from data on 86 countries across different continents by the United Nations reveals that 1 in every 3 women aged 15 to 49 years have ever suffered from.physical and sexual violence. Expectedly, there are inter-regional variations in this statistics: ranging from between 6 to 64 percent of women in Africa; 6 to 67 percent of women in Asia, 13 to 46 percent of women in Europe, 14 to 38 percent of women in Latin America and the Caribbean, 7 to 32 percent of women in North America, 17 to 68 percent of women in the Oceania (UN, 2015).

In Nigeria, Africa's most populous and the world's most populous single black African population country, wife beating is a common practice and has also found justification among some sets of people (Odujinrin, 1993; Abane, 2000; Oyediran and Isiugo-Abanihe, 2005; Esere, Idowu, Durosaro and Omotosho, 2009; Mann and Takyi, 2009; Owoaje and OlaOlorun, 2012). A summary of studies in Nigeria published by the United Nations (2015) reveals that about 27.8% and 11.2% of women aged 15 to 49 years have experienced physical violence at least once in their lifetime and within the last 12 months preceding the date of data collection, respectively (UN, 2015).

Intimate partner violence thrives in Nigeria and finds justification as appropriate in certain situations among some sets of men and women. Reports from the most recent national demographic health survey, the 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) reveals that out of a total of 38,949 women aged 15 to 49 interviewed, over one-third of them, thirty-five percent (35%) - approximately, 13, 632 - of them justified wife beating as acceptable, while twenty-five percent (25%), approximately 4,340 of the 17,358 men interviewed equally agreed that a man can beat his wife, for at least one of the following reasons: if she “burns the food, argues with him, goes out without telling him, neglects the children, or refuses to have sex with him” (NPC and ICFI, 2014, pg. 14).

A study from Ghana Doku and Asante (2015) has also shown that younger age, no education or less than Secondary school education, type of religion and low wealth quintile status of women aged 15-49 years have also been found to be statistically significant variables influencing women's attitude towards supporting wife beating as justified in Ghana based on analysis of the 2003 and 2008 Ghana Demographic and Health Surveys which featured a nationally-representative sample of 10,607 Ghanaian women aged 15-49 years. Their findings showed that younger women aged 25-34 years old and those 15-24 years old were “1.5 and 1.3 times, respectively, more likely to approve domestic physical violence” from husbands against their wives than older aged women 35 years and above. More so, women with no education were 3.1% more likely; with primary education were?2.6 more likely, and junior secondary education were 1.8% more likely to accept that wife beating is justified than categories of women with a minimum of secondary education completed. Traditional believers at 1.7%, and Moslems at 1.5% also justified wife beating than women who are Christians. However, it is not known whether such justification is consistent with IPV experience in the country.

Finally, women within “the richest, rich and middle wealth index categories” were found to be less likely to accept that domestic physical violence against wives could be justifiable compared to women on the lower index (Doku and Asante, 2015). This paper needs to be replicated and cross-examined with the most recent 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey in order to note if there are changes in the trend.

Although such studies need replication for consistency checks in other regions, however, it is not known whether justification could translate into reality as this paper currently investigates.

2.4 Factors Promoting IPV and Violence Against Women

The body of literature is replete a plethora of socio-cultural, demographic and economic factors associated with the IPV in many societies of the world.

Fox (2002) argued that the origins of violence against women could be found in traditions presenting the idealization of patriarchy as a natural phenomenon. According to him, there are three main traditional ideological sources: the “Judeo-Christian cultural ideas, Greek philosophy and the Common Law legal code” (Fox, 2002; pg. 15). According to Fox (2002), these three traditions have taken patriarchy as natural - that a man beating his wife demonstrates his manliness and control over his wife.

In a study conducted by Douki, Nacef, Belhadj, Bouasker, and Ghachem (2003), domestic violence is narrated to have had a long distant root in the Arab and Islamic nations. However, in their conclusions of findings from surveys in the selected Arab countries, the scholars argued that IPV in the Arabic world was cultural than religious, although communal perpetrators often found claim to justify their actions interpreting certain Quranic verses. This view is somewhat supported by Al-Hibri, 2003; Kamaruddin and Oseni, 2013. Similarly, the Christian religion has also been somewhat cleared of Fox (2002) positions, precisely citing the Bible Book of Galatians 3:28 and others strongly discourages VAW, but rather encourage some forms of gender equity (Barker et. al, 1993; Hove, 1999; Ardlandson, (n.d.).

Quite a number of other possible factors have also been attributed to acts of violence among men. Biologists have argued that having the male hormone, testosterone, in higher concentration than females is responsible for secreting hormonal glands that trigger relics of atavistic or animalistic behaviors of aggression in men and that such behaviour is only reduced and brought under control through social and familiar constraints (Kreuz and Rose, 1972; Archer, 2004; Batrinos, 2012;).

In addition to this, many feminists agree that violence is a deeply-rooted socio-cultural construct in the mold of patriarchy and perversely targeted against women. They somewhat agreed that patriarchy is one of the factors which encourage, promote and consolidate male dominance and female subjugation in patriarchal societies (Dobash and Dobash, 1979). This dominance has limited women's ability and power of expressions in the political, economic, top-managerial and household levels (UN, 2015).

More precisely, lack of employment and low educational status are also important factors contributing to IPV in Nigeria. Odujinrin's (1993) cross sectional survey of the frequency, forms and factors associated with wife battering among a sample of 100 randomly selected women in Nigeria found a high prevalence among the sample: 81.0% of the women reported having experienced verbal abuse, 31.4% both physical and verbal abuse. Out of this, 77.4% reported it they suffered seasonally, 16.2% regularly, 6.8% always. About 46.2% reported abuse occurred in the presence of their children. However, according to Odujirin (1993), studies are needed to identify “the causes and the psychological effects” of women abuse on the women and their children in order “to design appropriate medico-social rehabilitation” for the victims (Odujirin, 1993).

A very useful survey that tend to partially answer the query posed by Odujurin (1993) was a study conducted to investigate the prevalence and predictors of domestic violence during pregnancy among a group of 400 pregnant women in Northern Nigeria by Iliyasu, Abubakar, Galadanci Hayatu and Aliyu (2013), findings reveal that 29 (7.4%) out of the 392 reported that they had experienced domestic violence during the current pregnancy, among which 58.6% were physical violence, 13.8% reported to have suffered sexual violence in pregnancy. The immediate reasons for violence were arguments over financial resources and other domestic problems. Women's level of educational attainments and employment status were found to be negative covariates of domestic violence. The higher a woman climbs up on the education ladder, the lower her risk of exposure to domestic violence?

Likewise, being engaged in economic activities that takes a woman away from the home brings lower risks of experiencing domestic violence from partner - although this paper did not conform to the international standard of assessing the relative income effect on domestic violence. To this end, low educational attainments and women's unemployment status are reported to be strong predictors of actual IPV experience among women in northern Nigeria.

In a study very useful for this paper, Yoshikawa, Shakaya, Poudel and Jimba (2014) explained their findings that women's approval or disapproval of wife beating does not forestall or encourage the experience of IPV in households - most of the women who disapprove (or approve) of IPV still get beaten by the husbands, irrespective! Yoshikawa, Shakya, Poudel and Jimba (2014) study involved a household based cross-sectional survey of 717 randomly selected couples aged 18-49 years in Nepal in 2011. The goal of research was to ascertain whether there would be any statistically significant connection between spousal justification of wife beating and its actual occurrence in household, in lifetime or within the past one year preceding the study Spousal justification of wife beating was measured on six-scale indicators while physical assault was measured on seven-scale items.

The result of the study shows that about 30% of spouses justified wife beating “under certain circumstances”. The findings reveal a consistently statistically positive relationship between only men's acceptance of wife beating and their actual occurrence within a lifetime or the past one year (Yoshikawa, Shakya, Poudel and Jimba, 2014). The study further lends credence to high prevalence of wife beating and that women's decision, opinion or justification or not of IPV do not really count. Men decide who and when to beat. Thus, drastic actions must be taken to control IPV prevalence in every human society.

Meanwhile, women who solely or mainly depend on their husbands/partners as source of finance or economic wealth have been reported to have higher likelihood of suffering from IPV from such partners than their counterparts who rely lesser on their partners or/and are nearly (if not altogether) self-sufficient (Basu and Famoye, 2004; Kaukinen, 2004; Yount, 2012). To this end, over-dependence on husband could be a major source of IPV in Nigerian households, especially among women with low level of education, poorly paid employment and who mainly or/and solely depend on their partner as their major source of income.

This study will also seek to verify whether there is any statistically significant relationship between women's acceptance of wife beating as justified for any reason and their ever-actual experience of IPV using the 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey.

Many studies have also found correlations between a woman's level of empowerment and her experience of IPV. Dalal (2011) study focused on ascertaining whether being employed could reduce a woman's likelihood of suffering from IPV. His study thus included two groups of “working” versus “non-working” women. Comparatively, it was surprising that while working women experience of less and severe physical, emotional and sexual) IPV averaged 19.75%, while it was non-working women experienced lower average at 13.75%. By implication, the paper concluded that economic empowerment alone could not singlehandedly provide women the advantage of escaping or experiencing lesser IPV, retorting that IPV was a cultural norm, rather than economic. To this end, the Dalal (2011) recommended that increase in literacy level and systematic intervention to modify the cultural ideology portraying IPV against women as ideal in India.

In her seminal paper, Aizer (2010) investigated the role of gender wage gap on IPV in married women's household in the US using changing demands in female dominated paid jobs as instrumental variable. Secondary data from the National Violence Against Women (NVAW) survey (1994) were employed and findings reveal that women in low income households (earning less than $10,000 per annum) were five times more likely to experience IPV than their counterparts in high income earning households (earning more than $30,000 per annum).

It is perhaps assumable that most cases of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) as well as other acts of Violence Against Women (VAW) have been grossly underreported (Gyuse, 2009; UNICEF, 2015). This is especially true in regions of the world and societies where a woman's report in a bid to get justice brings her more blames than justice (Douki, et. al, 2003). To this end, most cases of sexual or physical abuse have been grossly underreported (Gracia, 2004). For instance, in Nigeria, the penal code (practiced in Northern Nigeria) allows a man to beat his wife in as much as no severely physical damage is done (Section 55 1d of the Nigeria Penal Code). Given this provisions, women could suffer severely damaging intangible emotional and sexual abuse (rapes) from husband without having any physical evidence to display in public. To this end, some of the women who face IPV are unwilling to report the abuse. This has constituted a major barrier in stemming IPV against women, not only in Nigeria, but also in other countries of the world where similar practices or laws are in place.

Meanwhile according to Heise (2015), traditional “norms related to male authority over female… [those] justifying wife beating” and sole male inheritors and property ownership are significant correlates of increased levels of Intimate partner violence against women.”

2.5 Husband Factors Found in Previous Literature

More factors or correlates of IPVAW have been identified in several other studies for which the current study cannot discuss in detail. However, they are important to mention considering the main goals of this paper, that is, to examine socio-cultural factors that are consistent in their relationship to instances of IPV in three selected sub-Saharan West African Countries.

The study by Garcia-Moreno et. al, (2013) reveals that women whose husband/partner exhibit any of the forms of control will be more likely to report incidences of experiencing IPV from husband/partner”. There are five internationally standardized husband control situations including the husband “being jealous if she talks to other men”, “accuses her of unfaithfulness”, “does not permit her to meet female friends”, “tries to limit woman's contact with family” or “insists on knowing where she is” (Garcia-Moreno, 2013; NPC & ICF Macro, 2014; GBOS & ICF International, 2013). However, one of the questions tested in this paper is how consistent is the finding among the three selected West African Countries.

2.6 The Controversies in Literature of IPV

Although several studies have been conducted hitherto in the study of IPV against women, some of the findings have been inconsistent, thus making generalization of their findings almost impossible (Abramsky et. al, 2011). As stated afore, one germane reason for this might be differences in methodology (Abramsky et. al, 2011), study objectives, or altogether the challenge of cultural specificity and cultural relativity. Where results from different studies are somewhat inconsistent, there is need to understudy and verify the phenomenon and purported associations again, more closely, using similar methodology, as done in this study.

This section presents only a few examples of some of the inconsistencies reported in the relationships between certain potential socio-cultural and demographic factors and the likelihood of woman's experience of IPV from husband or partner.

2.6.1 Inconsistencies in Relationship between Woman Empowerment Status and Experience of IPVAW

First, a systematic review of studies from 11 countries by Vyas and Watts (2009) reported that women's economic empowerment protected women from IPV from husbands or partners in five (5) countries while at the same time exposed women to greater risks of IPV in six (6) countries. Two years after this report, a similar (nation-based) study in highly populated India by Dalal (2011) revealed that employed and income-earning women were more likely to experience IPV from their partner (Dalal, 2011). Meanwhile, in Uganda, a country situated in eastern Africa, Kwagala, Wandera, Ndugga & Kabagenyi (2013) reported that woman empowerment was negatively associated with IPV and thus reduced the likelihood of experiencing IPV among economically empowered women. Standing in between these two seemingly contrasting reports is report from a study by Jewkes (2002) where the relationship between women's empowerment and IPV experience was non-monotonous, that is, women who were less and./or more empowered were more exposed to IPV compared to women who maintain a somewhat medial level of economic empowerment. Arguably, this could manifest a similar pattern as spousal relative income in which women who earn about same income as husband were least likely to experience IPV from men in Ola (2017).