The Cultural and Socioeconomic Factors on Domestic Violence: A Study of indigenes of Ahiazu Mbaise People of Imo State, Nigeria

Globally, the preponderance of domestic violence against women has become a form of paternalized assault and coercive deprivation of their liberty in the family and society. The increasing level of violence against women in the family circle in certain Nigerian communities has become highly pervasive. This study, therefore, critically examined domestic violence against women in the family in Ahiazu Mbaise communities of Imo State, Nigeria adopting the Feminist Theory as a compass. Data was collected with the use of semi-structured questionnaires, while respondents were drawn through a cross-selection of members of the communities who constituted the focused group discussions. The population of the study was drawn through simple random techniques and the three towns studied were selected with the use of the hat and draw method. The second sampling technique was purposive sampling. The population of the study was 1,201 and 300 population were drawn using the simple random technique with Taro Yamani’s formula for sample size. The data collected were analyzed using simple percentage and frequency tabular percentage. The findings show that violence against women is a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women. Drawing from this finding, the study recommends that women should rise, unite, and fight for their rights, religious organizations should preach against violence, NGOs, CLOs, and government agencies should intensify advocacy to redress violence against women, the laws against gender-based violence should be strengthened with stiffer punishments and a general societal value reorientation on the evil of domestic and other forms of violence.