Occupational Prestige and Women’s Experience of Intimate Partner Violence in Nigeria

One-in-four women in Nigeria has experienced some type of spousal violence in her life. The present study uses relative occupational positions of women as a proxy for bargaining power and examines this as a potential risk (or protective) factor for intimate partner abuse in Nigeria; a perspective as yet unexplored by the existing literature. Using the nationally-representative 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) and a multinomial logit regression model, I examine the association between occupations and IPV. I find that women in less prestigious occupations have greater odds for experiencing violence. Additionally, women have greater odds of abuse if partners are engaged in more prestigious occupations. I extend the analysis by assessing the association between relative spousal occupational prestige and IPV. Findings indicate that women in similar and more prestigious occupations than their male partners have greater odds of experiencing violence. Policy recommendations follow from the results.