Open Access Peer-reviewed Research Article

Are contextual influences and statutory law empathy impetuses to police attitude to domestic violence against women in Lagos State?

Article Sidebar

Cross percentage distribution of respondents
Download PDF
Submitted   Mar 4, 2021
Published   May 21, 2021
Issue    Vol 3 No 1 (2021)
DOI   10.25082/SWSW.2021.02.001

Views

2568

Downloads

1120

Citations

PlumX Metrics

Main Article Content

Taofik Olatunji Bankole corresponding author
Department of Demography & Social Statistics, Faculty of Social Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria
Glory Urhere
Centre for Gender Studies, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria

Abstract

The Lagos State Statutory (Protection against Domestic Violence) Law was enacted on March 18, 2007 to protect inhabitants of the State against all forms of domestic violence. In spite of the enactment of this law, many inhabitants of Lagos State are still imperiled to emotional, psychological and physical traumas arising from domestic violence. This study validated contextual influences and the understanding of statutory law protecting women against domestic violence in Lagos State. Contextual influences were captured as socio-demographic characteristics, sociocultural and economic factors. The study adopted the quantitative cross-sectional research design method. Information was sourced randomly among police personnel across Police Divisions within the State Police Command from July to November, 2019. The Fishers sampling technique was employed to arrive at a sample size of 312 from a total population of 1650 police personnel in Lagos State. Stata version 14 was used in data analysis. The results showed that a biased approach to domestic violence against women was higher among male (87%) than female (13%) police personnel. A biased approach to domestic violence against women was higher among non-commissioned (65.2%) than commissioned (34.5%) police personnel. Contextual influences such as sociodemographic, sociocultural and economic factors, as well as police understanding of statutory law against domestic violence were found to be significantly associated with police approach to domestic violence against women in Lagos State. The study concluded that the enactment of the protection against violence law was an appropriate measure to addressing domestic violence, still, the police need to be more proactive and unbiased in handling reported cases of domestic violence against women in the State.

Keywords
police, contextual, domestic violence, empathy, statutory law, Lagos State

Article Details

Supporting Agencies
The authors express appreciation to the Nigeria Police, Lagos State Police Command for granting us the right to carry out the research among its personnel.
How to Cite
Bankole, T., & Urhere, G. (2021). Are contextual influences and statutory law empathy impetuses to police attitude to domestic violence against women in Lagos State?. Social Work and Social Welfare, 3(1), 134-147. https://doi.org/10.25082/SWSW.2021.02.001
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

References

  1. Umar MA. The perception of Shari’ah on domestic violence. Nnamdi Azikiwe, University Journal of International Law and Jurisprudence, 2012, 3: 170-181. https://www.ajol.info/index.php/naujilji/article/downlaod/136363/125854
  2. Ajah O, Iyoke A, Nkwo O, et al. Comparison of domestic violence against women in urban versus rural areas of Southeast Nigeria. International Journal of Women’s Health, 2014, 6: 865-872. http://doi.org/10.2147/IJWH.S70706
  3. Campbell M, Hicks R, Thompson S, et al. Characteristics of Intimate Partner Violence incidents and the environments in which they occur: victim reports to responding law enforcement officers Journal of Interpers. Violence. 2017. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260517704230
  4. Oba AA. Islamic Law as Customary Law: The Change Perspective in Nigeria. The International and Comparative Law Quarterly, 2020, 51(4): 817-850. https://doi.org/10.1093/iclq/51.4.817.JSTOR3663189
  5. British Broadcasting Corporation [BBC] (2002). “Nigeria Sharia architect defends law”. Retrieved on May 3, 2021, BBC News. 21 March, 2002. news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/Africa/1885052.stm.
  6. Ayodapo O, Sekoni O and Asuzu C. Pattern of intimate partner violence disclosure among pregnant women attending ante-natal clinic in Oyo East Local Government, Nigeria. South African Family Practice, 2017, 59(2): 67-71.
  7. Ezeudu C, Akpa O, Waziri E, et al. Prevalence and correlates of intimate partner violence, before and during pregnancy among attendees of maternal and child health services, Enugu, Nigeria: mixed method attitude, January 2015. The Pan African medical journal, 2019, 32(Suppl 1): 14. https://doi.org/10.11604/pamj.supp.2019.32.1.13287
  8. IRIS Domestic Violence Center (2015) Domestic Violence Statistics [www]. http://www.stopdv.org/index.php/statistics/
  9. Laelago T, Belachew T and Tamrat M. Effect of intimate partner violence on birth outcomes. African Journal of Health Sciences, 2017, 17(3): 681-689. https://doi.org/10.4314/ahs.v17i3.10
  10. Swailes L, Lehman B and McCall-Hosenfeld S. Intimate partner violence discussion in the healthcare setting: A cross-sectional study. Preventive Medicine Reports, 2017, 8: 215-220. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2017.10.017
  11. NPopC and ICF Macro. Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey. Abuja, Nigeria, and Rockville, Maryland, USA. 2019.
  12. Campbell M, Thompson L, Harris A, et al. Intimate partner violence and pet abuse: responding law enforcement officers’ observations and victim reports from the scene. Journal of Interpers. Violence, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260518759633
  13. McGirr A and Sullivan M. Critical Consciousness Raising as an Element of Empowering Practice with Survivors of Domestic Violence. Journal of Social Service Research, 2017, 43(2): 156-168. https://doi.org/10.1080/01488376.2016.1212777
  14. Catal´a-Mi˜nana A, Lila M, Oliver A, et al. Contextual factors related to alcohol abuse among intimate partner violence offenders Subst. Use Misuse, 2017, 52(3): 294-302. https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2016.1225097
  15. Hamberger K, Rhodes K and Brown J. Screening and intervention for intimate partner violence in healthcare settings: creating sustainable system-level programs. Journal of Women’s Health, 2015, 24(1): 86-91. https://doi.org/10.1089/jwh.2014.4861
  16. Eze-Anaba. Domestic Violence and Legal Reforms in Nigeria: Prospects, 2010. https://www.lawandgender.com/eze-anaba.pdf
  17. McCleary-Sills J, Namy S, Nyoni J, et al. Stigma, shame and women’s limited agency in help-seeking for intimate partner violence. Global Public Health, 2016, 11(1-2): 224-235. https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2015.1047391
  18. Nwogugu I. Family law in Nigeria, HEBN Publishers Plc. Ibadan, Nigeria. 2014. https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-protection/violence/domesticviolence-unicef-irc
  19. Lagos State Protection against Violence Law [LAGPAVL] (2007). Retrieved on August 24, 2020 from: https://learningpartnership.org/index.php/resource/domestic-prevention-law-lagos-state-nigeria-document-english
  20. Ashimi O and Amole G. Prevalence & predictors for domestic violence among pregnant women in a rural community Northwest, Nigeria. Nigerian medical journal: journal of the Nigeria Medical Association, 2015, 56(2): 118-121. https://doi.org/10.4103/0300-1652.150696
  21. Stopler G.“A Rank Usurpation of Power”— the Role of Patriarchal Religion and Culture in the Subordination of Women, Duke Journal of Gender Law and Policy 365-398. 1998. https://www.scholarship.law.duke.edu/djglp/vol15/iss1/5
  22. Sullivan M. Examining the Work of Domestic Violence Programs Within a “Social and Emotional Well-Being Promotion” Conceptual Framework, Harrisburg, PA: National Resource Centre on Domestic Violence, 2012. http://www.dvevidenceproject.org
  23. Alexandra J and Arlene V. You just deal with it. You have to when you have got a child A narrative analysis of mothers’ accounts of how they coped, both during an abusive relationship and after leaving, Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2017, 22(1): 74-89. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359104515624131
  24. Azene N, Yeshita Y and Mekonnen A. Intimate partner violence and associated factors among pregnant women attending antenatal care service in Debre Markos town health facilities, Northwest Ethiopia. PLoS ONE, 2019, 14(7): e0218722. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218722
  25. Decker R, Nair S, Saggurti N, et al. Violence-related coping, help-Seeking & health care-based intervention preferences among perinatal women in Mumbai, India. Journal of Interpersonal, 2013, 28(9): 1924-1947. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260512469105
  26. Islam J, Broidy L, Baird K, et al. Intimate partner violence around the time of pregnancy and postpartum depression: The experience of women of Bangladesh. PLOS ONE, 2017, 12(5): e0176211. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0176211
  27. Suryavanshi N, Naik S, Waghmare S, et al. Gender-based violence screening methods preferred by women visiting a public hospital In Pune, India. BMC Women’s Health, 18. 2018. http://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-018-0515-2
  28. Tonsing J and Barn R. Intimate partner violence in South Asian communities: Exploring the notion of “shame” to promote understandings of migrant women’s experiences. International Social Work, 2017, 60(3): 628-639. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020872816655868
  29. Tirado-Mu˜noz J, Gilchrist G, Farr´e M, et al. The efficacy of cognitive behavioural therapy and advocacy interventions for women who have experienced intimate partner violence: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Annals of Medicine, 2014, 46(8): 567-586. https://doi.org/10.3109/07853890.2014.941918
  30. Ellsberg M and Heise L. Researching Violence against Women: A Practical Guide for Researchers and Activists [www]. 2005. http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2005/9241546476_eng.pdf?ua=1
  31. Van Parys S, Verhamme A, Temmerman M, et al. Intimate Partner Violence and Pregnancy: A Systematic Review of Interventions. PLoS ONE, 2014, 9(1): e85084. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0085084
  32. Wang T, Liu Y, Li Z, et al. Prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy in China: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PloS One, 2017, 12(10): e0175108.
  33. Vu A, Wirtz L, Bundgaard S, et al. Feasibility and acceptability of a universal screening and referral protocol for Gender Based Violence with women seeking care in health clinics in Dadaab refugee camps in Kenya. Global Mental Health, 4. 2017. https://doi.org/10.1017/gmh.2017.18
  34. Haeseler A. Women’s coping experiences in the spectrum of domestic violence abuse. Journal of Evidence-Based Social Work, 2013, 10(1): 33-43. https://doi.org/10.1080/154337142013.750551