INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE AND MATERNAL HEALTH IN NIGERIA: IMPLICATIONS FOR CORONAVIRUS DISEASE (COVID 19) LOCKDOWN MEASURE

Abstract

A very recent article published in The Guardian (2020) reported on how the surge of domestic violence cases is a pattern being repeated A very recent article published in The Guardian (2020) reported on how the surge of domestic violence cases is a pattern being repeated very recent article published in The Guardian (2020) reported on how the surge of domestic violence cases is a pattern being repeated Among measures recommended by the World Health organization to stem the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus is the restriction of population movement (lockdown). With the lockdown, there appear to be a global surge in intimate partner violence (IPV) and how this impact on maternal health is the motivation for this study. Understanding IPV and how it influences maternal health, within an economic framework will be potentially relevant especially with the increasing use of lockdown to curb the surge of the virus. In this study, we identify factors of domestic violence against women within couples who were currently in marital or cohabiting partnerships. Also, we investigate whether domestic violence influences the decision of women to terminate pregnancies. We use data from the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS). Multivariate logistic regressions were used to model the predictors of domestic violence, and its influence on the decision to terminate pregnancies among married women. Of the 8,910 married women interviewed for domestic violence, 35.33% had ever experienced a form of domestic violence. We discover that having higher education, not being poor, and residing in urban areas reduce the odds of women experiencing domestic violence. Further, findings from the study indicate that women who own land, and whose husbands use alcohol have increased odds of experiencing domestic violence. Also, the results suggest that currently married women experiencing domestic violence have 1.25 times increased odds of terminating pregnancies compared with their counterparts that are not experiencing domestic violence. Our results suggest the implementation of short-term measures to address the issues of poverty and alcohol consumption during lockdown periods. Long-term measures could include legislations supporting compulsory girl-child education and criminalising all forms of domestic violence. Importantly, public actions to contain domestic violence in order to improve maternal health should be implemented in the context of the dynamics of a non-cooperative relationship existing between married couples.