Wife-battering in most societies is described as the use of excessive force on the female gender by husbands to enforce control or superiority. In nearly all cases, women are at the receiving end.
It is also described as the act of using intimidation and blackmail through physical abuse. In most cases, the woman is forced to endure the situation for her entire life, so long as her family has formally given her hand out in marriage.
In the African society, quitting amounts to bringing shame to her family name and exposing her mother as lacking in her role of effectively grooming her daughter.
The average African woman is trained to remain subdued even in the face of life-threatening brutality for her husband and in some cases, inlaws.
The case is the same in other developing countries of Arab, Middle East and Asia. The woman is made to play second fiddle to her husband. They are forced to slow down their careers even when the man makes little or no effort to improve himself.
Many women complain that even when their earning power is enough to cater for their entire nucleus and extended families, they are forced to hide their wealth so peace may reign.
Some other women endure the torture for the sake of their children. this because of society stereotyping of children of broken homes and the their others.
Sadly also, and as discussed by the Nigerian Bar Association in Premium Times, developing societies including Nigeria see wife-battering as a purely domestic affair that should be resolved between an abusive husband and his tormented wife.
Sadly, the emotional and physical torture that a woman is subjected to hurts the children, make them loath their abusive fathers and prepare most of them to avenge at the slightest opportunity.
Wife-battering assumed an alarming proportion during the lockdown resulting from the #COVID19 pandemic. In the societies listed above, many of the cases were not documented or even reported. Sadly, many incidences resulted in deaths or the dissolution of marriages.
Dissolution came about because a mother prefers to stay alive for the sake of their children rather than have an unknown woman raise them.
Some legal experts blame wif- battery on inadequate enforcement of relevant laws. It has also been suggested that there should be an enactment of specific legislations to save the women.
Fortunately, some states have set up agencies to deal with incidences of domestic abuse were most women have sought succour and received redress.
Read also:
“Abusive Marriage ? Choose Life Over Marriage”; Pastor David Adeoye
Woman before You Quit, Listen to Temi