Cross-sectional study on knowledge, attitude and prevalence of domestic violence among women in Kaduna, north-western Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Domestic violence is a global issue of public health concern with detrimental effects on women's physical, mental and social well-being. There is a paucity of community-based studies assessing the knowledge and attitude of women towards domestic violence in Nigeria. OBJECTIVE: To assess knowledge, attitudes, prevalence and associated factors of domestic violence among women in a community in Kaduna, Nigeria. DESIGN: A descriptive cross-sectional study. SETTING: A selected community in Kaduna South Local Government Area in Kaduna State. PARTICIPANTS: In total, 170 women aged 15-49 years participated in the study. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The outcomes were knowledge, attitude and prevalence of domestic violence. RESULTS: The mean age of the respondents was 28.7+7.9 years. A total of 113 (66.5%) respondents had high level of knowledge about domestic violence with 114 (67.1%) having non-tolerant attitudes towards domestic violence. The lifetime prevalence and 12-month prevalence of domestic violence were 47.1% and 35.3%, respectively. The results of logistic regression identified the educational status of women as a significant predictor of knowledge of domestic violence (adjusted OR (aOR)=0.32; 95% CI 0.15 to 0.68), while marital status (aOR=0.21; 95% CI 0.05 to 0.96), occupation of women (aOR=2.49; 95% CI 1.13 to 5.49), their tolerance of wife beating (aOR=0.33; 95% CI 0.15 to 0.72) and their partners' consumption habit of alcohol/substance use (aOR=7.91; 95% CI 3.09 to 20.27) were identified as significant predictors of the women's experience of domestic violence. CONCLUSION: Domestic violence was relatively high among women. Though a majority had high level of knowledge about domestic violence, a significant third had tolerant attitudes towards it. Appropriate health interventions need to be implemented by governmental and relevant stakeholders to target negative attitudes and address associated factors of domestic violence against women.

Male involvement in family planning in Northern Nigeria: A review of literature

Background: Demand and utilization of family planning (FP) in Northern Nigeria has been consistently low. Evidence from literature has demonstrated that male involvement in FP programming can be successful in increasing demand for FP services. Materials and Methods: A search of peer-reviewed and gray literature was carried out to explore the status of male awareness and utilization of FP methods, and the barriers to male involvement in FP, in Northern Nigeria. Results: Males in the region generally have a good awareness of FP. However, they had negative perceptions, low levels of usage of FP, and poor spousal communication about FP.Sociocultural and religious barriers played major roles in hindering male involvement in FP. Misconceptions about FP, such as that FP is a woman's activity and that it also encourages promiscuity among women, were factors limiting its acceptance. Conclusion: There is a need to address the misconceptions and equip men with complete and correct information about FP. There is also a need for research on effective strategies to address the sociocultural and religious barriers to male involvement in FP in Northern Nigeria and the development of effective culturally sensitive male-involvement FP initiatives