CORRELATES OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AMONG MARRIED WOMEN IN EKITI STATE: INFLUENCE OF SELF-ESTEEM, SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS, AND AGE

Abstract

Domestic violence remains a major social and public health concern that adversely affects the well-being of married women and family stability. This study examined the influence of age, self-esteem, and socioeconomic status on domestic violence among married women in Ekiti State, Nigeria. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population consisted of married women in Oye-Ekiti Local Government Area, from which 200 respondents were randomly selected. Data were collected using a validated questionnaire with a reliability coefficient of 0.76. Descriptive statistics, Pearson Product-Moment Correlation, and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were used to analyse the data at the 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed varying levels of domestic violence experience among the respondents, with 89.0% reporting low levels, 9.0% moderate levels, and 2.0% high levels of domestic violence based on the study’s score classification ranges. The results further indicated that age significantly influenced domestic violence among married women (F(4,195) = 7.678, p < .05). In addition, domestic violence was negatively correlated with self-esteem (r = -0.319, p < .05) and socioeconomic status (r = -0.274, p < .05), suggesting that higher self-esteem and better socioeconomic status were associated with lower experiences of domestic violence. The study concluded that demographic and psychosocial factors play important roles in domestic violence experiences among married women. It was therefore recommended that counselling services, women empowerment initiatives, and public awareness programmes be strengthened to help reduce domestic violence in society. Keywords: age, counselling, domestic violence, married women, Ekiti State. self-esteem, socioeconomic status,