Three Newspapers • Coverage of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in Nigeria, 2015-2017

This article explores how three national newspapers cover the cases of intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) in Nigeria from 2015 to 2017 to contribute to global research on mediated representations of violence against women. The study focuses on how Nigerian newspapers, The Guardian , Punch and Vanguard, reported the IPVAW cases from 2015 to 2017, and how they covered and framed IPVAW. Using quantitative content analysis, we found that the newspapers used episodic framing, EODPHG(cid:3)WKH(cid:3)YLFWLPV(cid:15)(cid:3)DQG(cid:3)H[RQHUDWHG(cid:18)(cid:3)H[FXVHG(cid:3)WKH(cid:3)PHQ•V(cid:3)DFWLRQV(cid:17)(cid:3)7KH(cid:3)LPSOLFDWLRQV(cid:3)RI(cid:3)WKHVH(cid:3)ILQGLQJV(cid:3)DUH(cid:3) discussed.


INTRODUCTION
On June 30, 2017, hundreds of people participated in the #1in3 Africa march against domestic violence in Nigeria and grabbed headlines. This was because unlike previous protests on the issue, which affects about two-thirds of Nigerian women, the march included two celebrities -Tonto Dikeh and Mercy Aigbe (Animasaun, 2016). The award-ZLQQLQJ DFWUHVVHV KDG KHOG 1LJHULDQV· attention with accounts of violence in their marriages from January 1, 2017, to the end of the year.
Unlike other Nigerian female celebrities who disclosed the violence they suffered in their marriages after divorce, Aigbe and Dikeh used social media to expose their experiences almost immediately after they occurred. They posted pictures, videos, and documents online and granted exclusive interviews to tell their stories. Their husbands were not left out. They also used social media and interviews to counter the allegations laid against them. These incidents kept intimate partner violence (IPV) in the news for months, thereby hurling ´a social problem into the public eyeµ (Maxwell et al., 2000, p. 258).
Intimate partner violence is a global social health problem that 30% of women have suffered worldwide (World Health Organization, 2019). Recent global movements against IPV have revitalized public and scholarly interests in the issue, even in the pandemic situation (Nduru & Dedees, 2020). As IPV is a newsworthy issue that meets the shocking, unusual, controversial, and WLPHOLQHVV QHZVZRUWKLQHVV FULWHULD VFKRODUV DUH DOVR LQWHUHVWHG LQ WKH QHZV PHGLD·V LQIOXHQFH RQ SHRSOH·V SHUFHSWLRQ RI ,39 EHFDXVH ZKDW SHRSOH VHH UHDG RU KHDU IURP WKH QHZV LV FRPPRQO\ accepted as accurate representations of real-life (Halim & Meyers, 2010). So far, news media have GLVWRUWHG VRFLHW\·V SHUVSHFWLYH RI ,39 EODPHG YLFWLPV DQG UHIOHFWHG SDWULDUFKDO LGHRORJLHV LQ VRFLHW\ (Alat, 2006;Bullock, 2007;Bullock & Cubert, 2002;Meyers, 1996). This is because coverages focus on individuals and rarely frame IPV as a systemic societal issue. Therefore, to contribute to the growing literature, this study presents the findings of a content DQDO\VLV RI WKUHH QHZVSDSHUV· FRYHUDJH DQG IUDPLQJ RI LQWLPDWH SDUWQHU YLROHQFH DJDLQVW ZRPHQ (IPVAW) in Nigeria from 2015 to 2017. The study looked specifically at cases of IPVAW because they are more prevalent in Nigeria (Abayomi & Olabode, 2013;Brisibe et al., 2012). The high rates of IPVAW in Nigeria make this study imperative and provides a baseline look at how Nigerian newspapers cover IPVAW. In addition, as most studies on mediated representations of IPVAW come from Western societies, this study adds a non-Western perspective to the literature.

Intimate Partner Violence in Nigeria
7KH :RUOG +HDOWK 2UJDQL]DWLRQ GHILQHV ,39 DV ´behavior by an intimate partner or expartner that causes physical, sexual or psychological harm, including physical aggression, sexual coercion, psychological abuse and controlling behaviorsµ S 7Kese behaviors range from physical acts like beating, slapping, and rape to controlling ones like monitoring and isolating partners from family and friends. Statistically, women are more likely to suffer IPV than men (World Health Organization, 2019). In Nigeria, Oseyemwen et al., (2019) found that 80% of women are victims of IPV, with sexual, physical, and psychological abuse being the commonest. In their study, Benebo et al. (2018) found that one in four Nigerian women aged 15 to 49 had experienced a form of IPV. On average, 300 to 350 Nigerian women also die from IPV annually (Shija, 2004). These high rates are attributed to certain factors.
2QH IDFWRU LV 1LJHULD·V SDWULDUFKDO IUDPHZRUN ZKLFK KDV FUHDWHG FXVWRPV DQG QRUPV WKDW VHH women as inferior and allow and support violence against them (Duru, et al., 2018;LaFraniere, 2005). Examples include paying bride price (which gives husbands ownership of their wives) and conferring only or mostly men with economic privileges such as owning land and making money (Benebo et al., 2018). Among the Igbos of southeastern Nigeria, traditions normalize wife-beating (Chukwu, et al., 2014). Among the Tiv of central Nigeria, wife-beating signifies love and is an acceptable punishment for women (Angye, 2004).
$ VHFRQG IDFWRU LV WKDW ,39 ´is generally regarded as belonging to the private sphere in Nigeria, and therefore to be shielded from outside scrutinyµ ´+DOI RI 1LJHULD V ZRPHQµ 0DUULHG ZRPHQ GR not talk about the violence they experience. Rather, they tolerate and accept it as part of marriage (Dauda, 2015). They also will not, or cannot, leave abusive marriages because women who do are culturally perceived as failures and promiscuous (Udobang, 2018 Overall, IPV is difficult to fight because women are aware of these structural, philosophical, and cultural challenges. When they fall victim, they know that a system that favors violence against ZRPHQ H[LVWV DQG ´limits opportunities for redress or grievance-remedialµ 'DXGD S ´The fear of being ostracized, the lack of material and financial resources, and the general lack of sympathy and support from the public, have contributed immensely toµ YLROHQFH LQ 1LJHULDQ KRPHV ´&XUELQJ JURZLQJ GRPHVWLF YLROHQFHµ SDUD

Newspapers and IPVAW
Researchers have studied the role newspapers play in public perceptions of intimate partner violence because they can influence and determine how society sees and reacts to it (Alat, 2006;Bullock, 2007;Bullock & Cubert, 2002;Gillespie et al., 2013;Meyers, 1996). So far, scholars have criticized newspapers for largely ignoring, negatively stereotyping, skewing, and distorting intimate partner violence against women in their coverage.
)RU LQVWDQFH .DWKOHHQ 7LHUQH\·V SLRQHHULQJ VWXG\ IRXQG QHZVSDSHUV GLG QRW WUHDW ZLIHbeating as a social issue. Rather, covering wife-EHDWLQJ ZDV ´goodµ EHFDXVH LW ZDV QHZ FRQWURYHUVLDO, DQG GLG QRW UHTXLUH VDFULILFLQJ ´the entertainment value, action and urgency on which the media typically dependµ 7LHUQH\ S ² 214). In her examination of Turkish newspapers, Alat (2006) also found the coverage of IPVAW, HVSHFLDOO\ EHWZHHQ GDWLQJ FRXSOHV ZDV VH[XDOL]HG DQG WXUQHG ´attention from the crime to the morality of the relationship by raising questions about the purity of the female victimµ S In some stories, the perpetrator was invisible and absolved of all responsibility. Doing this, Alat (2006) argued, ZHDNHQHG ´the seriousness of male violence in the society and maintains the myth that family is a sanctioned and safe place for womenµ S 2).
In examining newspaper coverage of the rapes of over 76 girls in one night at St. Kizito VHFRQGDU\ VFKRRO LQ .HQ\D /HVOLH 6WHHYHV DGGHG WKDW FRYHUDJH VWUHQJWKHQHG ´patriarchal conceptions of rape and other forms of gender violenceµ S .HQ\D·V PRVW SRSXODU QHZVSDSHU UDUHO\ PHQWLRQHG UDSH LQ LWV FRYHUDJH GRZQSOD\HG WKH LQFLGHQW·V VHYHULW\ DQG EODPHG KRROLJDQLVP DQG indiscipline for the violence, not the perpetrators. Coverage also commiserated with the perpetrators. In studying South Africa, which has one of the highest rates of IPVAW in the world, Isaacs (2016) found that newspaper coverage overemphasized and characterized IPVAW as H[FHVVLYH DFWV RI ´physical violence, which undermined the complexity and true reality of the social phenomenon in South Africaµ S Overall, these studies indicate how newspapers have covered IPVAW in some contexts and often failed. They also suggest it is important to understand how IPVAW cases are covered in different contexts because the media and its meVVDJHV ´largely determine whether or not female survivors speak out about their abuse and the nature of the assistance women receive from the public, criminal justice system, and the health sectorµ ,VDDFV S

Theoretical Framework ² Framing theory
Guiding this study is framing theory, which suggests that news media select parts of reality and make them more salient to promote a certain interpretation of an event, issue, or person (Entman, 8VLQJ D IUDPH D ´central organizing idea or storyline that provides meaning to an unfolding strip of events µ QHZV PHGLD KHOS DXGLHQFHV PDNH VHQVH RI LPSRUWDQW RU UHOHYDQW LVVXHV HYHQWV, and people *DPVRQ 0RGLJOLDQL S 7R IUDPH DFFRUGLQJ WR (QWPDQ LV WR ´select some aspects of a perceived reality and make them more salient in a communicating text, in such a way as to promote a particular problem definition, causal interpretation, moral evaluation, and/or treatment recommendationµ S 7KLV PHDQV RWKHU SDUWV RI WKH issue or event are omitted or obscured because framing involves selection bias. Therefore, audiences will have an incomplete picture. Through their use of repetitions, placement, and/or associations to culturally shared symbols such as language and images, journalists can also tell people not only what to think about, but how to think about things (Entman et al. %XW PHGLD IUDPHV DUH QRW RQO\ DERXW WKH PHGLD·V VHOHFWLRQ and display process. Rather, they are crucial elements in how people think, interpret, understand and respond to an issue, person, or event (Comas-G·$UJHPLU In journalism, framing serves two purposes. Firstly, journalists routinely use framing to quickly identify and select whom or what gets covered because the information is checked against traditional news values, such as conflict, unusual/shocking, and impact (Schudson, 1989). Secondly, framing helps journalists know how to cover and present news because routine coverage of certain subjects over time establishes patterns of how things are, or should be, covered. Frames are, after DOO ´SDWWHUQV RI LQWHUSUHWDWLRQ URRWHG LQ FXOWXUH DQG DUWLFXODWHG E\ WKH LQGLYLGXDOµ %U•JJHPDQQ 2014, p. 61). There are two categories of frames ² episodic and thematic frames.
(SLVRGLF IUDPHV ´present an issue by offering a specific example, case study, or event-oriented report µ DQG WKHPDWLF IUDPHV ´place issues into a broader contextµ *URVV S $FFRUGLQJ WR ,\HQJDU (1991), while episodic frames illustrate issues and limit them to just the individuals in a story, WKHPDWLF QHZV IUDPHV SODFH LVVXHV LQ D VRFLDO FRQWH[W DQG SURYLGH ´collective or general evidenceµ WKDW pushes for communal and government action (p. 14). Gross (2008) adds that episodic frames make DXGLHQFHV ´hold individuals responsible for their situation, thereby diminishing support for government programs designed to address the problemµ S *URVV IRXQG MRXUQDOLVWV XVH HSLVRGLF IUDPHV PRUH EHFDXVH WKH\ DUH ´emotionally engagingµ DQG ´more likely to draw the reader or viewer into the storyµ (p. 171). Several studies have been applied to the media coverage frame of IPVAW.
In their study of newspaper coverage of IPVAW in Washington state, Bullock and Cubert (2002) found that though a handful of articles looked at the issue from a societal level, most covered WKH LVVXH DW WKH LQGLYLGXDO OHYHO 7KH\ DOVR IRXQG WKDW QHZVSDSHUV· ZRUG FKRLFHV REVFXUHG ,39$:·V ´importance as a broader social problemµ S 479). Maxwell, et al. (2000) also found that while the O.J. Simpson case increased coverage on cases of IPVAW, the stories presented them as isolated incidents, and made no connection to hegemonic social structures that allow violence against women.
6WXGLHV DOVR IRXQG WKDW MRXUQDOLVWV· FKRLFH RI VRXUFHV ODQJXDJH, and whether a history of violence in a relationship was provided impacted how IPVAW was perceived. For sources, journalists relied most on police in IPVAW cases and rarely interviewed medical experts (Taylor, 2009). This also gave the issue an episodic slant, framing IPVAW as a personal problem or a oneoff crime (Richards et al., 2011). Gillespie, et al. (2013) also found that the language used endorsed ´traditional representations of females or gender stereotypesµ S Meyers (1996) also found that news typically framed IPVAW as devoid of context because VWRULHV RPLWWHG KLVWRU\ RI YLROHQFH LQ D FRXSOH·V UHODWLRQVKLS 7KLV ODFN RI FRQWH[W DOVR PHDQW D KHDY\ reliance on stereotypes that blamed victims, focused more on the perpetrator and his version of events, silenced victims, and did not frame IPVAW as wrong (Meyers, 1996).
2YHUDOO LQ DSSO\LQJ IUDPLQJ WKHRU\ WR QHZVSDSHUV· FRYHUDJH RI ,39$: VFKRODUV FRQVLVWHQWO\ found frames that obscured, misrepresented, stereotyped, or downplayed its severity as a public, social issue. As no study so far has examined the issue in Nigerian newspapers, this study asked: RQ1: Did the Guardian, Punch, and Vanguard newspapers report on intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) cases from 2015 to 2017? RQ2: If they did, how did the newspapers cover and frame IPVAW news stories from 2015 to 2017?

METHOD
To answer the research questions, a sample of news stories from three national elite dailies in Nigerian, from 2015 to 2017, was analyzed. Quantitative content analysis was used because several studies in the literature used it. The method also fit this study because the researcher wanted to explore the characteristics and themes unique to Nigerian newspapers if any. The dailies were The Guardian, Punch, and Vanguard, popular English newspapers with daily print circulations of 80,000 to 130,000. Vanguard and Punch are the two favorite newspapers, while The Guardian is considered the most respected (https://answersafrica.com/top-10-nigerian-newspapers-most-readonline.html). These papers were also chosen because, according to Rogers & Dearing (1988), QDWLRQDO DQG HOLWH SDSHUV LQIOXHQFH RWKHU PHGLD·V FRYHUDJH /RFDWHG LQ 1LJHULD·V HFRQRPLF DQG PDVV media center, Lagos state, The Guardian, Punch, and Vanguard are among Nigeria·V ROGHVW DQG PRVW influential newspapers. They are also available online. The online versions were used for the study because the researcher had no access to print versions. The study chose 2015 to 2017 because the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act that criminalized IPV was passed in 2015, and the celebrity incidents happened in 2017.
To be included in the sample, a news story had to be on an incident of physical and/or emotional/psychological act of violence (e.g., beatings/battery, assault with a weapon, sexual abuse, and murder) against a woman by a current or former male intimate partner that ran between 2015 DQG 1HZV VWRULHV ZHUH FKRVHQ EHFDXVH WKH\ DUH ´the major forum by which people keep abreast of local, national and global eventsµ DQG ´the most influential information sourceµ .LPDQL <HERDK S 7R ILQG DUWLFOHV WKH UHVHDUFKHU VHDUFKHG WKH QHZVSDSHUV· GDWDEDVHV XVLQJ ¶GRPHVWLF YLROHQFH· EHFDXVH ,39 LV FRPPRQO\ FDOOHG GRPHVWLF YLROHQFH LQ 1LJHULD 7KLV SURGXFHG UHVXOWV on domestic terrorism and feature stories on gender-based violence. Therefore, the search was refined XVLQJ NH\ZRUGV OLNH ¶PDQ NLOOV · ¶SV\FKRORJLFDO DEXVH· DQG ¶PDQ EHDWV· 7KLV UHWXUQHG PRUH WKDQ news stories on different crimes and features of emotional trauma and abuse. The search was UHILQHG DJDLQ XVLQJ SKUDVHV OLNH ¶PDQ KLWV ZLIH· ¶PDQ HPRWLRQDOO\ DEXVHV ZRPDQ· ¶SV\FKRORJLFDO DEXVH· ¶HPRWLRQDO DEXVH·, DQG ¶PDQ DEXVHV ZRPDQ· WR ILQG VWRULHV WKDW PHW WKH FULWHULD 7KHVH produced several news stories that met the criteria. The researcher went through the results and selected the ones reported from 2015 to 2017. Features were excluded because those found were opinion pieces on domestic violence generally or domestic violence events in Lagos state and did not meet the criterion. In all, 86 news stories were found and included in the sample.
Next, the researcher read nine (roughly 10%) articles from the sample to determine the news VWRULHV· PDMRU FKDUDFWHULVWLFV DQG FUHDWH FDWHJRULHV IRU FRGLQJ $ coding sheet was created with the following categories (and sub-categories): type of intimate partner violence, type of relationship, the reason for intimate partner violence, sources, action taken against man, a result of the divorce case, history of violence, and primary news frame (episodic or thematic). Table 2 has a breakdown of the categories and sub-categories. To ensure reliability, the researcher trained a colleague to identify the categories in the news stories. They pretested the coding sheet using 18 articles (20%). Information that fits these categories was FRGHG XVLQJ IUHTXHQF\ FRXQWV 8VLQJ .ULSSHQGRUI·V coefficient, intercoder reliability ranged from .90 to 1.00, indicating high intercoder agreement for the sample. The researcher then read the articles three more times and coded the frequency of each category for the 86 articles. The researcher also took careful notes and paid attention to the headlines, themes, and general tone in each article to determine the muted or delicate meanings and inferences (Reason & Garcia, 2007). Articles were also read to see if psychological/emotional abuse (controlling or threatening behaviors) was described or suggested as the search produced only one news story with that keyword. Generally, the writers used a facts-only reporting style, which meant giving readers a chronicle of events that answered the who, what, where, when, why, and how questions. The stories were short and descriptive, typically seven short paragraphs or fewer. The stories appeared either a day after the incident or after the man was arrested, bailed, arraigned, remanded, or punished. In addition, 69 stories (80%) came from criminal cases (murder and assault with a weapon) and 17 (20%) came from customary courts where women had filed for divorce on violent grounds. +HDGOLQHV HPSKDVL]HG WKH YLFWLPV· IDPLOLDO UHODWLRQVKLSV with the perpetrator (e.g. wife, ex-girlfriend, JLUOIULHQG ORYHU DQG HPSKDVL]HG WKH SHUSHWUDWRU·V SURIHVVLRQ RU JHQGHU H J PRWRUF\FOLVW PDQ 7KH

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
GLYRUFH VWRULHV LGHQWLILHG DQ DVVDLODQW·V IDPLOLDO UHODWLRQVKLS VRPHWLPHV FRPELQHG ZLWK KLV SURIHVVLRQ WR WKH YLFWLP H J ´My husband is a wicked manµ RU ´My pastor husband fond of beating me, wife tells courtµ 2QO\ RQH FDVH KDG D IROORZ-up story because the man committed suicide two weeks later. The others did not.
The stories also shared several characteristics as Table 2 shows. The reasons given for IPVAW were generally linked to a disagreement or quarrel over something. The singular most reported reason emphasized was infidelity (16.3%), then demands money (11.6%). Women suffered violence for miscellaneous reasons in 21 stories, including having only female children, refusing to worship idols, rejecting a proposal, refusing to hand over property, getting pregnant, and not keeping the house clean. In 19 stories, no reason was given.
In terms of actions taken against perpetrators, the analysis showed that while arrests occurred in 18 cases (26%), no information was given on what happened to them in 32 others (46%). In the divorce cases, judges adjourned 13 cases to allow the couple to reconcile and granted divorce in four cases (in three of them, the men did not object. In the fourth, he did not appear after multiple DGMRXUQPHQWV GHVSLWH WKH ZRPHQ·V WHVWLPRQLHV RQ WKH VHYHUH EHDWLQJV DQG PDOWUHDWPHQW WKH\ suffered. For sources, the analysis showed that stories cited at least two sources each. As table 2 shows, the police were the most quoted source (34%), followed by perpetrators. Reporters also XVHG DQRQ\PRXV VRXUFHV ,W ZDV REVHUYHG WKDW WKH YLFWLPV· YRLFHV ZHUH SULPDULO\ KHDUG LQ FRXUW cases, but rarely in the non-divorce incidents.
RQ2 asked how the newspapers covered and framed IPVAW from 2015 to 2017. The three newspapers covered IPVAW as crimes when it was assault with a weapon or murder. Beatings were not framed as crimes unless it was excessive. The newspapers also framed IPVAW as isolated incidents. All the stories primarily illustrated and limited IPV to the individuals in the stories, and did not connect them to the high rates of IPVAW in Nigeria. The newspapers also covered IPVAW as sensational, unusual incidents, and emphasized the dramatic elements in the stories. The papers did this through their use of clichés and flowery language to describe the incidents and create a dramatic flair. For instance, a story in Vanguard said: ´He allegedly pounced on her and gave her the beating of her lifeµ 2]RU $ EUHDNLQJ QHZV VWRU\ began this way: Life, for 28-year-old Folashade Ayetan, a mother of four, has not been a bed of roses. Without respite, her life has been garnished daily with psychological, emotional, and physical torture. (Onyegbula, 2015).  (Sunday, 2017). The police discovered he beat her to death. Apart from perpetrators, family and friends also blamed the victims for the incident.

$QRWKHU VWRU\ GHVFULEHG D YLFWLP·V VZROOHQ FKHHNV DV ORRNLQJ OLNH VKH ´had eggs hidden in her
,Q D 3XQFK DUWLFOH D VRXUFH EODPHG WKH YLFWLP IRU KHU GHDWK EHFDXVH ´she said she wanted her husband to kill herµ DQG DOVR KLG WKH YLROHQFH LQ WKH PDUULDJH IURP KHU SDUHQWV )Rlarin, 2017). In another case, an anonymous source blamed the victim for her murder because she duped the SHUSHWUDWRU 7KH VRXUFH VDLG ´:H KHDUG WKDW WKH ER\ SLFNHG WKH ELOOV IRU WKH JLUO·V HGXFDWLRQ EXW WKDW the girl later abandoned the boy and opted to marry another manµ 1NZRSDUD 7KH LQIRUPDWLRQ ZDV XQFRQILUPHG ,Q DQRWKHU VWRU\ WKH YLFWLP ´decided to endure the assaults because of her childrenµ suggesting she chose to remain in an abusive marriage (Hanafi, 2016). In a murder case, the police LQGLUHFWO\ EODPHG WKH YLFWLP EHFDXVH ´The suspect had angrily beaten his wife to stupor when the deceased stopped him from chasing after her alleged lover boyµ 2NXWX 7KH VWRU\ KLQWHG DW KHU alleged adultery with a younger man and suggested the lRYHU QRW WKH ZRPDQ ZDV WKH KXVEDQG·V target. For letting him got away, the husband angrily beat her until she fainted and later died at the hospital.
The overall context of the stories also blamed the victims because reporters gave more LQIRUPDWLRQ RQ WKH YLFWLP·V FKDUDFWHU DQG HPSKDVL]HG WKH FKRLFH V VKH PDGH WKDW FDXVHG WKH violence. This focus also produced a good-bad woman dichotomy. For example, a man killed his JLUOIULHQG IRU ´allegedly infecting him with gonorrheaµ $NHQ]XD . However, much of the story IRFXVHG RQ WKH YLFWLP DQG KLQWHG DW KHU ¶EDG· FKDUDFWHU 6KH ´deceived her parentsµ DERXW KHU whereabouts and went to have sex at a hotel (Akenzua, 2016). This suggested she was promiscuous and bad. In some ways, this frame also stereotyped women as capable of, and responsible for, stopping the violence because men would not beat or kill them if they were good wives and women.

Excusing/exonerating the men
The second theme of excusing/exonerating the men occurred in two ways, largely because the QHZVSDSHUV VWUHVVHG WKH ´why he did itµ DQJOH ,Q RQH ZD\ WKH PHQ·V DFWLRQV ZHUH H[FXVHG EHFDXVH something was wrong with them. Men were generally described as angry, enraged, beasts, mental cases/mad, wicked, or obsessed. A story in Punch on August 22, 2017, described a man who killed KLV ZLIH DV ´mentally disturbedµ EHFDXVH KH RIWHQ KDOOXFLQDWHG DERXW SHRSOH GHPDQGLQJ EORRG IURP him (Folarin & Hanafi, 2017). No medical personnel or reports were used. Another story is called the man who kLOOHG KLV ZLIH DQG WZR RWKHU ZRPHQ ´possessedµ +DQDIL 2OXJEHPL $ IHZ KHDGOLQHV DOVR IUDPHG WKH SHUSHWUDWRU RU FDVH DV DEQRUPDO H J ´Insane: Husband hacks wife to death for taking him to courtµ $QRWKHU VWRU\ GHVFULEHG WKH SHUSHWUDWRU DV ´having gone wildµ EHIRUH violently pushing and killing his wife for questioning his mistress (Amobi, 2016).
A second-ZD\ PHQ·V DFWLRQV ZHUH H[FXVHG ZDV WKURXJK WKH DEVHQFH RI D KLVWRU\ RI ,39 LQ of the 52 murder cases. These stories did not explore or indicate a history of violence before the one that killed the women. Though victims, family, and/or neighbors said the violence was common in the relationship in two murders and all the beating/battery stories, these stories still excused the PDQ·V DFWLRQV DQd concentrated more on the violence that made the case newsworthy. The absence of violence in the murder cases characterized such murders as one-time acts that went wrong or the man snapping because the victim provoked him.
For example, The Guardian had a story of a man who stabbed his wife because she slapped KLP ([SODLQLQJ WKH HYHQW WKH VXVSHFW VDLG ´As a man, I felt so humiliated and in anger, the knife we were using to peel oranges became my weapon, which I used to stab her. Unfortunately, she diedµ ( 2ODWXQML  2017). The story did not say he strangled her. Overall, the excusing/exonerating the men theme DOVR LQGLUHFWO\ MXVWLILHG ,39$: ZKHQ ZRPHQ·V EHKDYLRUV DSSHDUHG FXOWXUDOO\ LQDSSURSULDWH VXFK DV alleged infidelity or disrespect. These findings have several implications for how readers who rely on these newspapers for information will perceive and react to IPVAW.
One implication lies in the small number of stories the newspapers covered. This small number does not match the high rates of IPVAW scholars have found in Nigeria. Therefore, people who read these newspapers may get a distorted perspective on the severity of the issue. The amount of media coverage a social issue receives is important because it can push policymakers to create policies for or against it (Yanovitzky, 2002). For instance, the increased coverage probably increased WKH LVVXH·V VDOLHQFH LQ 3HUKDSV /DJRV VWDWH·V SURPSW SDVVDJH RI D ODZ WKDW FULPLQDOL]HG GRPHVWLF violence and sexual abuse in 2017 was connected to the increased coverage. The state also recorded 564 cases of intimate partner violence between January and September as more people reported it (Nwannekanma & Salau, 2017).
A second implication of the coverage lies in the lack of continuous coverage on criminal cases and the reliance on police sources. Crime stories are continuing stories that allow readers to gain insight into the judicial process/system (Chermak, 1995). These newspapers missed this opportunity because they ran only one report per case and left readers without a conclusion. No story told readers what happened to the men who escaped from the scene of the crime and whether those who were bailed stood trial. Thirty-two stories did not even tell readers if anything happened to the perpetrators. Only one case had a follow-up story, probably because he committed suicide in detention two weeks later and the murder was sensational (he killed his wife for money rituals). These gaps could make readers conclude most men are not punished or can get away with violence against women, especially as the Nigerian Police Force is perceived as corrupt (Madubuike-Ekwe & 2ED\HPL 7ULDOV FRXOG KDYH FRUURERUDWHG RU FKDOOHQJHG DVVXPSWLRQV RQ WKH PHQ·V PHQWDO states and testimonies as autopsy reports and medical sources are used there. Such gaps could IXUWKHU VWUHQJWKHQ YLFWLPV· GLVWUXVW LQ WKH SROLFH DQG ZHDNHQ SHRSOH·V ´faith in the ability of the system to bring the perpetrators to justiceµ 2NXODWH S Reporters also heavily relied on police sources, which could frame IPVAW as something only WKH SROLFH QRW VRFLHW\ FDQ UHVROYH DQG OLPLW WKH UHDGHUV· XQGHUVWDQGLQJ RI LW 7KLV KHDY\ UHOLDQFH LV also problematic because most of the Nigerian Police are men and as federal agents, they may not frame IPVAW as an issue requiring social attention and action. Rather, they will focus on the individual angle. In framing mostly murders as crimes, the newspapers also appeared to present IPV PXUGHUV DV ´just another homicide µ ZKLFK DFFRUGLQJ WR %XOORFN DQG &XEHUW ´sidesteps the issues of male control, manipulation, and abuse of womenµ LQ 1LJHULD S 2QO\ WKUHH DVVDXOW FDVHV involved the legal system and the men were bailed and the cases adjourned. Furthermore, not framing less severe beatings crimes reflects a common belief in Nigeria that wife-beating is acceptable and not violence (Adika et al., 2013) Patriarchal ideology even appeared in the divorce cases as the judges expected the women to remain in violent situations and only granted the divorce when husbands did not object or failed to appear after several adjournments. Such judgments displayed a belief that IPV was something a couple could resolve or weak grounds for divorce. However, these adjournments could have cost the women their lives. For example, thrRXJK D GLYRUFH FDVH ZDV DGMRXUQHG ´several times for the parties to resolve their differences µ Whe man continued beating and raping his wife (NAN, 2017c).
Like Ilsa Evans (2001)  The latter was the case when the victims were the primary sources of information, suggesting Nigerian reporters highlighted a direct familial context for perpetrators and victims only when women/victims were the primary sources of information. However, these stories still blamed ZRPHQ IRU WKH PDUULDJH IDLOLQJ EHFDXVH WKH\ IRFXVHG RQ WKH ZRPHQ·V FKDUDFWHU DV ZLYHV DQG ZK\ the men were violent.
In addition, the newspapers framed IPVAW as wholly physical, severe, sensational, and unusual. Perhaps this was because violence and sensationalism make IPVAW newsworthy (Meyers, 1996). However, this could teach women undergoing other types of IPV to identify their experience as unimportant or not even violent. The lack of information on psyFKRORJLFDO DEXVH PD\ OLH LQ YLFWLPV· DQG UHSRUWHUV· XQGHUVWDQGLQJV RI ZKDW LW LV RU UHVHPEOHV DQG WKLV DIIHFWV KRZ VRFLHW\ DOVR GHILQHV such abuse. Perhaps deeper interviews with victims on how they are treated and IPV experts in news stories could close this gap.
In covering IPVAW in Nigeria, these newspapers also blamed the victim and H[RQHUDWHG H[FXVHG WKH SHUSHWUDWRU 7KLV FRUURERUDWHG SUHYLRXV VWXGLHV· ILQGLQJV RQ ,39$: XVLQJ framing theory (Bullock & Cubert, 2002;Maxwell et al. 2000;Evans, 2001;Gillespie, et al., 2013). The problem with this frame is it is powerfully linked to patriarchal beliefs about women as the property of men and pushes violence as an appropriate punishment for women whose behaviors are culturally inappropriate. This perspectiYH DOVR H[FXVHV ´those guilty of violent crimes µ ZKLFK LV what journalists did when they did not provide a context, blamed the victim for the violence, or failed to seek further explanations from suspects (Steeves, 1997, p. 56). Moreover, some of the reporting created a good-bad woman dichotomy that not only framed women as responsible for their victimization, it also indirectly warned women of what could happen when they make culturally inappropriate choices like owning land, slapping their husbands, moving on/divorced, being the breadwinners and more.

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ILQGLQJ that newspaper coverage of IPVAW carries the myth that perpetrators are deviant or pathological in some way. This myth not only suggests men who abuse women are lone wolves, but it also removes the blame from a patriarchal system that permits men to use violence to control women. ,W DOVR UHGXFHV WKH PDQ·V UHVSRQVLELOLW\ LQ WKH FULPH DQG FRXOG SUHYHQW D GHHS GLVFXVVLRQ RQ the societal structures that allow and support IPVAW in Nigeria. Some stories also framed the violence as examples of love going wrong. For instance, though two murder cases happened during marital rape, the papers did not call the incidents rape. Rather, WKH\ FDOOHG WKHP ¶IRUFHIXO VH[XDO LQWHUFRXUVH· DQG ¶VH[XDO LQWHUFRXUVH· DQG IUDPHG WKH YLROHQFH DV DFFLGHQWV WKDW RFFXUUHG ZKHQ WKH PHQ VKRZHG love to their wives. In a court case, the victim called maritDO UDSH ¶PDNLQJ ORYH · ,PSO\LQJ KXVEDQGV cannot rape wives also frames victims as refusing to perform their duties as wives and excuses KXVEDQGV· XVH RI YLROHQFH 7KLV LV GDQJHURXV FRQVLGHULQJ 2OD DQG $MD\L IRXQG VRPH 1LJHULDQ men view rape as an acceptable way of retaining their power and position in the family as head and owner of their wives. In not calling the violent rape, or interviewing sources that challenged beliefs on marital rape, the newspapers mirrored and maintained cultural ideologies on appropriate expectations, behaviors, and punishments for men and women in marriage.

CONCLUSION
This study examined how three Nigerian newspapers covered IPVAW and provide important insight on mediated representations of intimate partner violence against women from a non-Western standpoint, thereby meeting its objective. Several key issues and characteristics found in this study PLUURUHG SDVW VWXGLHV· ILQGLQJV RQ PHGLD FRYHUDJH RI YLROHQFH DJDLQVW ZRPHQ 7KH VWXG\ DOVR IRXQG HYLGHQFH WKDW VXSSRUWHG IUDPLQJ WKHRU\·V DVVXPSWLRQV WKDW MRXUQDOLVWV use specific frames to present information to readers. Nigerian newspapers used episodic framing, which focused attention on the individual couple and did not connect the incidents to the larger numbers and social structures that support and allow violence against women in intimate relationships in Nigeria. Therefore, media in Western and non-Western societies do not frame IPVAW as social and public issues. This is problematic, especially in non-Western societies where mass media are relied upon to reveal social issues, alert government, and offer solutions. Therefore, adopting thematic framing, having deeper interviews with men and women, following up on cases, including medical and IPV experts and historical contexts, and using language that does not sensationalize the incidents in news coverage could help Nigerian newspapers contextualize IPV and inform the public better. Hopefully, this research also shows that the Nigerian media must be engaged in the fight against IPV.
Future studies from a Nigerian context could broaden this one by examining coverage of IPVAW over a longer period and include tabloid newspapers and social media as this study was OLPLWHG LQ WKLV UHJDUG )XWXUH VWXGLHV FRXOG DOVR H[DPLQH WKH DXGLHQFH·V SHUVSHFWLYH RQ ,39$: WR examine if media coverage affects their knowledge and stand on the issue.