Duration of Marriage Exacerbates the Likelihood of Spousal Violence among Involuntarily Childless Women in Nigeria: Evidence from a National Survey

Abstract

Given the roles of patriarchy and pronatalist culture and the high prevalence of spousal violence against partnered women in Nigeria, the authors estimate and visualize the moderating effect of years of marriage on the probability of experiencing spousal violence (ESV) among involuntarily childless women (ICW) (vs. non-childless women [NCW]). Using multiple binary logistic regression, the authors analyze the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey among married women (15–49 years of age). The authors define ICW as nulliparous women who have never used contraception and have never experienced pregnancy termination, while NCW are the comparison group. The graphical result suggests that despite the lower probability of ESV among ICW (vs. NCW), the probability of ESV is higher among ICW as years of marriage increase.