What has been happening? Two women were murdered by their spouses following an altercation about cooking
“In intimate relationships, women’s and girls’ choices about their bodies are dominated and controlled by their male partners who hold the belief that women’s bodies should always be available to men. These norms contribute to intimate partner rape and other forms of abuse, which are the most common form of violence against women and girls. Violence against women and girls is deeply rooted in the patriarchal power imbalance between men and women.” There is the commonality of a general belief system that the best place for women is in the ‘kitchen’. This trend has brought about tremendous misrepresentation of women's rights at the level of the family down to the circular society. Recently, two cases were popular on X (formerly Twitter) in Nigeria due to their peculiar nature, where two women were murdered by their spouses following an altercation about cooking. Women are far from enjoying equal rights in the labour market, due mainly to their domestic burden, low level of educational attainment, poverty, biases against women’s employment in certain branches of the economy or types of work, and discriminatory salary practices. Some women, particularly the younger ones, are only employed as long as they are ready to use their bodies to woo customers for their business organisations. This is what is called "corporate prostitution" (Salaam,2003)
For over a decade now, numerous cases of women’s rights violations such as acid baths, murder of women, rape, widow abuse, and physical assaults, have occurred in Nigeria. Unfortunately, it is only extreme cases of women’s rights violation that result in death or permanent disability that earns media attention and the police’s interest. Critical cases like female circumcision or genital mutilation, wife battery, marital rape, sexual harassment, verbal and emotional abuse, incest, termination of employment as a result of pregnancy, etc. are not considered problematic enough to be highlighted in the media nor to be taken seriously by the police (Salaam, 2003). More so, the victims of violence, especially domestic violence and rape, hardly report to the appropriate authorities. For instance, wife battery is considered a private affair between the husband and wife. Moreover, the tradition or culture and religious beliefs in Nigeria as a typical patriarchal society see the wife as the property of her husband, who has a moral
right to beat her as a penalty for insubordination and/or perceived wrongdoing.
November 2023 | Collective Action Magazine
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