Socio-cultural Attitudes of Igbomina Tribe toward Marriage and Abortion in Osun and Kwara States of Nigeria (Published)
Abortion has been a social menace and its assessment depended on one’s socio-legal views. Past scholars had concluded that abortion is either a felony or homicide; there is no known empirical study on socio-cultural implications of abortion to marriage in Igbomina tribe in Nigeria. Questionnaire was administered to 1036 respondents, 108 in-depth interviews were conducted and 156 Focus Group Discussions were held. Most (99.8%) respondents were not involved in abortion because 81.2% described induced abortion as a taboo. Majority (78.3%) respondents have seen more than forty women who died from miscarriage in traditional shrines and 59.7% passed through one-miscarriage or pregnancy complications but denied access to abortion. Any form of abortion resulted in marriage divorce, banned from eating natural foods, married outside the clan or total debarred from entry the land. The study found that only positive counseling, informational and educative services could bring about attitudinal change.
Keywords: Abortion, Igbomina tribe, Marriage, Socio-cultural, attitude