by Uworuya Paul Ogieva
While selecting the title for this article, I had noticed the high recurrence rate of this family tragedy and made a personal decision to give it a name that may or may not sit well with the reader.
A close look at the words serial killer is “a person who commits a series of murders, often with no apparent motive and typically following a characteristic, predictable behavior pattern”.
This expose’ on the increasing trend of African men, Particularly Nigerian men killing their life partners in foreign lands is to shade light on an act of violence that is disturbing and counter progressive to a people.
Olubumi Abiodun 2024 (UK), Hassan Adeyemo 2023(US), Obinna Igbokwe 2022 (US), David Ochola 2016 (US), Moses Egharevba 2014 (US), Babajide Okeowo 2014 (US), Olufemi Oladapo Ademoye 2010 (US), Michael Collins Iheme 2008 (US), Theophilius Ojukwu 2008 (US), Kelechi Charles Emeruwa 2006 (US). These are but a few of the many cases of African men particularly Nigerian men who fatally assaulted spouses or ex spouses.
It is important to note that domestic violence occurs across all demographics but studies shows that immigrant women may face unique barriers to seeking the much needed help to stem the violence before it aggravates to fatality. Some of the Barriers include;
LANGUAGE AND CULTURE BARRIER: Some African immigrants are unable to immediately understand the language of the available aid agencies or neighbors in their places of residence. Cultural differences also discourage seeking help because the average African culture is conservative with marital affairs and as such, men and women are unable to access the social support to avoid this fatality. In addition, immigrants generally keep to themselves due to the language and culture barriers.
FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN: Prime on the hearts and mind of the immigrant both documented and undocumented is the fear of deportation due to self reporting or self inflicted access of immigration officials to damning personal data and significant occurrences that can affect their immigration status. Over time and due to the human factor in immigration court decisions, it is popular in the immigrant community to limit the circulation of personal data and family occurrences within the system.
INCOMPLETE RESEARCH DATA: Available data on domestic violence is broad and lacks specification of ethnicity or immigration status. As such, It is difficult to pull data that highlights the worrying trend. Given the focus on general domestic violence and in some cases race, data available According to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS), indicates that about 45.1% of Black women experience physical violence, stalking, or psychological aggression by an intimate partner. It is difficult to break this down to African or Nigerian immigrants. There also exists situations of under-reporting.
INTERSECTIONALITY: The impact of domestic violence can be compounded by socioeconomic factors as well as limited access to financial and health resources. The high cost of health resources to immigrants discourage exploration of physical and mental health solutions to domestic incidences. It is also highly unlikely that an immigrant can access low rate loans to invest in financially beneficial ventures to reduce the economic pressure on the household even with rising cost of groceries.
DOWN PLAYING THE MENTAL HEALTH ISSUE: There is a general notion in the black community that “black don’t crack”. There is a perception that mental health issues are only associated with the Caucasians. This notion has proved untrue over time especially as people of African descent tend to ignore mental health until it violence or a fatality occurs. Friends and family also down play the importance of self care, sleep apnoea and sleep deprivation while navigating the work culture of America. This unfortunate circle of self punishment has led to under-reported suicides and violence among immigrant families. Immigrant families do not seek counseling services and are not opportuned to have family support and reporting systems like they had back in home countries. As such, the dominant male figure or female in some cases has no role model from which to draw direction.
HISTORY OF OPPRESSION: A long history of discrimination, abuse, over-policing, and mass incarceration contributes to mistrust of law enforcement and government systems.
PUBLIC STIGMA: Black women experience public stigma, silence, and victim-blaming around domestic violence.
In conclusion, the African community has long ignored this rising trend and often down played it to the weak character of individuals. The rising trend tends to point to eroding of moral character by societal pressure, feeling of betrayal, lack of hope and mental breakdown of perpetrator. The noted causes need to be addressed at points of contact to stem the tide of domestic violence and it’s associated fatality.
References
- Black, M. C., Basile, K. C., Breiding, M. J., Smith, S. G., Walters, M. L., Merrick, M. T., et al. (2011). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS): 2010 Summary Report. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- Campbell, J. C. (2002). Health consequences of intimate partner violence. The Lancet, 359(9314), 1331–1336. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(02)08271-0
- Campbell, D. W., Sharps, P. W., Gary, F. A., Campbell, J. C., & Lopez, L. M. (2002). Intimate partner violence in African American women. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 7(5). https://doi.org/10.3912/OJIN.Vol7No5ManuscriptC1
- West, C. (2004). Black women and intimate partner violence: New directions for research. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 19(12), 1487–1493. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260504269690
