NIGERIAN MEN IN MARRIAGES: A NEED FOR SPECIAL LEGISLATIVE PROTECTION

Abstract

Gender based violence has become rampant in the Nigerian society in recent times. Spousal abuse which is mostly
physical sometimes extends to psychological torture via uncensored utterances aimed at reducing the self-worth of
the abused spouse. However, there seems to be a penchant among many people for assuming that the woman is
always the victim of spousal abuse while the man is the constant culprit. This belief has led to the enactment of ‘ad
homiem’ legislation which dresses the men folk in the robes of an offender. The aim of this paper is to show that this
belief and such laws to the extent of the above stated are erroneous and that women are as guilty as men when it
comes to gender based violence to the point that men could also be in need of special legislation protecting them
from domestic violence perpetrated by their wives. The mode of discourse is mainly empirical.