KNOWLEDGE, PERCEPTIONS AND HELP-SEEKING BEHAVIOURS TOWARDS MARITAL RAPE AMONG WOMEN IN OYO STATE
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Date
2018-07
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UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN
Abstract
Marital Rape is a public health problem which poses great threat to the health and wellbeing of many women. Despite the serious nature of the problem, it has received only minimal public health attention in Nigeria. Evidence-based data on knowledge, perceptions and issues on help-seeking behaviours which could be used to facilitate the design of appropriate interventions for addressing marital rape are scanty. The objectives of the study were to: (i) assess knowledge of health consequences of marital rape; (ii) determine perception of marital rape; and (iii) identify help-seeking behaviours relating to marital rape among married women in Oyo State, Nigeria.
The study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional design and employed mixed research methods. A total of 1,200 women who had ever been married and aged 18 – 60 years were sampled into the quantitative component of the study using a multi-stage sampling technique. A pretested researcher-designed semi-structured questionnaire with co-efficient alpha of 0.89 was used to collect quantitative data. Focus Group Discussions (FGD) guide was used to elicit qualitative data from 12 homogenous groups of women. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi-square (X2)at p = 0.05, while the FGD were subjected to thematic analysis.
The findings of the study were that:
i. knowledge of health consequences of marital rape was significantly determined by respondents’ educational status (X2=30.3, df=6, p<0.001); The FGD participants revealed that women often experience various health and social consequences such as body and vagina injuries, depression, divorce and strained relationships as a result of marital rape;
ii. perception of marital rape was significantly determined by respondents’ age (X2=22.59, df=2, p<0.001); Majority of the FGD participants perceived marital rape as a less serious form of violence; and
iii. help-seeking behaviour of marital rape was significantly determined by perception of marital rape (X2=10.43, df=2, p<0.001); The thematic analysis revealed that shame and fear of being stigmatized contributed to the behaviour of not seeking for appropriate help including healthcare, counseling services and social support.
The study concluded that women’s educational status was a factor that influenced knowledge of health consequences of marital rape and women’s age was related to perception of marital rape. In addition, perception of marital rape influenced help-seeking behaviour among marital rape survivors. The implication of this study is that women’s knowledge, perception and help-seeking behaviour which are essential for marital rape control are inadequate. Therefore, the researcher recommended that community-based educational initiatives should be employed for promoting knowledge of health burden of marital rape. Public health education programmes focusing on changing perceptions that can increase vulnerability to marital rape should be organized for women in the communities. Also, social support should be given to marital rape survivors to enable them seek for appropriate forms of help.
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KNOWLEDGE, PERCEPTIONS, HELP-SEEKING, BEHAVIOURS, MARITAL RAPE, WOMEN, OYO STATE