FACTORS INFLUENCING THE CHOICE OF DIVORCE AS A SOLUTION TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AMONG MARRIED MEN AND WOMEN IN LAGELU LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF OYO STATE

Abstract

Domestic violence perpetuated by an intimate partner continues to be a major public health concern, and has been recognized as a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the society. Despite available legal solutions to this menace, many victims of domestic violence do not utilize them, which had resulted in little or no changes in the occurrence of these acts in the society. Many victims of violence would rather stay in an abusive relationship than choose divorce due to the negative perception and stigma many attribute to it, while few would leave. Hence the need to find out what factors limits or facilitates the decision of victims to leave an abusive spouse. Much focus has been on causes of domestic violence and not solutions; hence, this study investigated the factors influencing the decision of both married men and women to seek divorce as a solution to domestic violence in Lagelu Local Government area, Ibadan, Oyo state. The study employed cross sectional design using a five stage sampling technique. The wards were stratified into urban and rural, and further selection of seven wards using simple random sampling. Proportionate sampling was used to divide the sample size equally and eligible and willing participants were randomly selected from households in the community. Purposive sampling was used to select participants for the Focus Group Discussions. A mix- method was used to collect information from participants. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to summarize and interpret data at (P≤0.05). Content analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data The mean age was 39.9± 9.9 years, with 62.4% between ages 31-50 years and 48.3% had secondary education, 97.5% were married with 78% of them having less than 5 children. Many of respondents (90.6%) were aware of domestic violence and major source of information is the media. Both men (91.8%) and women (89.9%) have a negative perception of divorce. More men (33.1%) than women (27.6%) who experienced domestic violence sought help. Physical violence was identified as the major form of domestic violence that could lead to divorce by both men (43.1%) and women (34.9%), while more men(37.1%) than women (17.4%) agreed that refusal of sex was a form of violence that could lead to divorce. Many respondents (44%) attributed children in marriage, endurance and love for spouse as a limiting factor to divorce, while many participants also agreed that life-threatening acts (84.3%) and refusal of spouse to change

abusive actions after repeated pleas could motivate the abused to divorce spouse. More respondents preferred prayers or enduring the situation rather than divorce or separation as a solution to domestic violence. This shows the necessity to educate men and women on their basic human rights and eradicate cultural myths that limit men or women from adopting available legal and social provisions. There is also a need to rebuild our legal systems to ensure effective implementation of existing laws to help victims of domestic violence without discriminating between gender.