KALEJAIYE Oluwakemi Abiola
Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Nigeria.
abiola.kalejaiye@oouagoiwoye.edu.ng
SHOGUNLE Oluwaseyi Nathaniel
Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Nigeria.
seyi.shogunle@oouagoiwoye.edu.ng
Abstract
The study examines Sefi Attah’s depiction of the psychological burden of women and projects religion as a factor that engenders trauma. This is to identify the patterns of faith-based domestic violence and their implications on the psychological and emotional well-being of the victims. The study employed qualitative descriptive content analysis. The study draws its theoretical insight from the Rational Choice Theory Tedeschi & Felson (1994). This is relevant to the study because it attempts to provide a link between wife battering and religion. The study revealed that the private and personal lives of women are one of the unrecognised issues which affect their mental health. The findings further showed that there is debauchery and sublime traumatisation of women under the guise of religion. Moreover, victims of faith-based violence experience layers of complex psychological distress as a result of being constantly abused in marriage. It concludes that religious practices that enforce male dominance are central to the aggressive and violent tendencies exhibited by perpetrators of domestic violence.
Keywords: Religious Trauma, Faith-based Violence, Sefi Attah