Finding a Solution to Intimate Partner Violence in the Immigrant Nigerian Community in the United States

• In Event: Victimization Risk and Attitudes towards Victims: The Influence of Culture, Immigration and Social Networks

Abstract

The intimate partner murder of a Nigerian woman in Baltimore in February 2016 is a recent reminder of the ongoing problem of intimate partner violence (IPV) in the immigrant Nigerian community in the United States. As the number of spousal murders continues to increase, so are concerns in this community on how to address this problem. This paper is a narrative of findings from a focus group discussion held by a sample of immigrant Nigerian women on ways to tackle IPV in the immigrant Nigerian community. Findings show the fundamental role of patriarchal ideologies and practices in not only how immigrant Nigerian women understand IPV, but also in what they view to be appropriate solutions to the problem of IPV. On the basis of these findings, this paper calls for the centralization of patriarchy in research interests in IPV against immigrant women from Africa.

Author

• Anita Kalunta-Crumpton, Texas Southern University