Differences in Service Providers and Religious Leaders' Perspectives on Nigerians Immigrants' Domestic Violence Experiences and Supports

Background and Purpose: Domestic violence (DV) is a pervasive problem that impacts Black women in the US disproportionately as compared to other racial and ethnic groups. Nigerian immigrants DV survivors are a unique and understudied population, despite the majority of foreign-born Africans in the US come from Nigeria. Cultural influences and expectations play a role in decisions to leave an abusive partner and seek formal (e.g., DV agencies/providers) versus informal (e.g., religious leaders) support. Nigerian immigrants are more likely to seek informal assistance; however, these supports might reinforce Nigerian collectivist cultural beliefs. Such beliefs hold DV as a private matter and often paint separation or divorce in a negative and shameful light. The current research seeks to answer: Are there differences between DV agency providers and Nigerian religious leaders’ perspectives about Nigerian immigrants’ DV experiences and survivor needs?

Methods: The research team developed surveys for DV agency directors and staff and Nigerian religious leaders that included specific demographic questions for each group and overlapping content questions rated on Likert scales. Questions elicited perspectives of (a) the extent and types of DV (i.e., physical, sexual, emotional/psychological, controlling behavior, and cultural/traditional DV) within Nigerian immigrant communities (5 questions) and (b) helpfulness of strategies for addressing DV (10 questions). Thirteen DV providers and 17 Nigerian religious leaders completed the survey. Fisher’s exact tests, due to small sample sizes and low expected cell frequencies, were used to determine if there was a significant association between the supporter type (i.e., DV provider or religious leader) and each of the 15 content variables.

Results: Within the extent and types of DV, there was a significant association between supporter type and 1) Physical DV within Nigerian immigrant communities (p<.01). The religious leaders perceived physical DV to be less pervasive than DV providers. Regarding helpful strategies for addressing DV, there were significant associations between supporter type and 1) Religious leaders (p<.01) and 2) Couple mentors (p<.01). In both instances, religious leaders perceived these strategies to be more helpful than DV providers.

Conclusions and Implications: Religious leaders were both less likely than providers to perceive physical DV as a problem and found specific strategies to be more helpful than providers. These findings provide interesting insight that aligns with Nigerian collectivist culture, where religious leaders often believe that DV is a private, family matter. While religious leaders indicated that formal DV agencies are a helpful source of support, they might be more likely to recommend informal sources of support as well, specifically speaking to religious leaders and seeking out couple mentors. DV providers can collaborate with Nigerian religious leaders, educating them about the extent of DV and its potential effects on families and providing them with the resources needed to assist Nigerian immigrant DV survivors. Further, couple mentors in healthy relationships can be trained to serve as peer navigators for Nigerian couples with a history of DV. As peer navigators, they can help to engage Nigerian couples in DV interventions/formal services, provide individual support, and model healthy relationships.