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Effect of Domestic Violence Support Services on Support-Service Utilization among Women Experiencing Domestic Violence in Nigeria

Abstract

Domestic violence remains a significant public health, social, and human rights concern that can adversely affect women's physical health, psychological wellbeing, reproductive health, safety, economic stability, and quality of life. Women experiencing domestic violence may require a range of support services, including medical care, psychosocial counselling, legal assistance, temporary shelter, social welfare support, safety planning, and referral services. However, utilization of available support services may remain inadequate because of stigma, fear of retaliation, financial dependence, social isolation, lack of awareness, concerns about confidentiality, cultural beliefs, and limited accessibility of appropriate services. Domestic violence support services provide an opportunity to offer coordinated and survivor-centred assistance to women experiencing violence and facilitate access to appropriate healthcare, psychosocial, legal, protection, and social support. Against this background, this study investigates the effect of domestic violence support services on support-service utilization among women experiencing domestic violence in Nigeria. The study will be anchored on the Health Belief Model, Andersen's Behavioral Model of Health Services Use, and the Social Ecological Model. The Health Belief Model explains how women's perceptions of the severity of domestic violence, perceived benefits of seeking support, perceived barriers, and cues to action may influence utilization of available support services. Andersen's Behavioral Model explains how predisposing characteristics, enabling resources, and perceived healthcare and support needs influence women's utilization of formal support services. The Social Ecological Model emphasizes the interaction between individual, relationship, community, institutional, and broader societal factors in determining women's access to and utilization of domestic violence support services. Collectively, these theoretical perspectives provide a suitable framework for explaining how domestic violence support services may influence support-service utilization among women experiencing domestic violence in Nigeria. The study will adopt a quantitative analytical cross-sectional or quasi-experimental research design. The study population will comprise women experiencing or reporting domestic violence who access selected healthcare facilities, social welfare centres, women's support organizations, shelters, community-based programmes, and other relevant services across Nigeria. A multistage sampling technique will be used to select states, local government areas, communities, service facilities, support organizations, and eligible women. Domestic violence support services will be assessed using indicators such as availability and accessibility of medical care, psychosocial counselling, legal assistance, shelter services, safety planning, social welfare support, referral services, confidentiality, affordability, availability of trained personnel, service coordination, and follow-up mechanisms. Support-service utilization will be assessed using indicators such as attendance at support centres, use of medical services, counselling participation, utilization of legal assistance, shelter use, safety-planning participation, acceptance and completion of referrals, follow-up attendance, and repeated use of appropriate support services where required. Data will be collected using structured questionnaires, service utilization records where appropriate, referral registers, healthcare records, and relevant programme documents. Descriptive statistics will be used to summarize participants' characteristics, availability of support services, and patterns of service utilization. Inferential statistical techniques, including chi-square tests, correlation analysis, and logistic or multiple regression analysis where appropriate, will be used to determine the effect of domestic violence support services on support-service utilization. Where a quasi-experimental design is adopted, utilization patterns before and after the implementation or expansion of support services may be compared, while relevant demographic, socioeconomic, violence-related, and healthcare-access factors are appropriately controlled. Diagnostic tests will also be conducted to assess the reliability, validity, and robustness of the findings. The study is expected to find that accessible, confidential, affordable, and survivor-centred domestic violence support services have a significant positive effect on support-service utilization among women experiencing domestic violence in Nigeria. Women who have access to coordinated support services are expected to be more likely to utilize appropriate medical, psychosocial, legal, shelter, protection, social welfare, and referral services than women with limited access to such services. Comprehensive support may reduce practical barriers to seeking assistance, improve women's awareness of available options, strengthen trust in service providers, and facilitate timely access to appropriate care and protection. However, stigma, fear of retaliation, financial dependence, cultural norms, social isolation, lack of confidentiality, geographical barriers, inadequate service availability, and concerns about the consequences of disclosure may continue to limit utilization. The study therefore expects accessible, confidential, culturally sensitive, coordinated, and survivor-centred domestic violence support services to contribute significantly to improved utilization of appropriate support services among women experiencing domestic violence in Nigeria. The study is expected to contribute to the literature on domestic violence support services, support-service utilization, intimate partner violence, gender-based violence, women's health, psychosocial support, legal assistance, survivor-centred care, healthcare utilization, and public health in Nigeria. The findings will provide useful information to the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, National Primary Health Care Development Agency, state ministries, healthcare facilities, social welfare agencies, women's organizations, shelters, legal aid providers, community-based organizations, development partners, and policymakers regarding strategies for improving utilization of domestic violence support services. The study will also provide evidence-based recommendations for strengthening integrated domestic violence support programmes, improving confidentiality and privacy, expanding accessible counselling and psychosocial services, strengthening referral and follow-up systems, improving access to legal and protection services, training healthcare and social-service providers, reducing barriers to service utilization, and promoting coordinated survivor-centred care for women experiencing domestic violence across Nigeria.

Keywords: Domestic violence support services, support-service utilization, women experiencing domestic violence, intimate partner violence, gender-based violence, psychosocial support, legal assistance, survivor-centred care, healthcare utilization, women's health, Nigeria, public health.