The aim of this study was to investigate the social determinants of domestic violence in rural areas as a yardstick for determining the pathways through which socio-cultural processes influence women’s susceptibility to marriage. A cross sectional research design was adopted for this study and quantitative data were collected using the Severity of Violence Against Women Scale (SAVAWS) that was developed by Marshall (1992). Domestic abuse was discovered to be prevalently experienced in rural areas. Also, the study discovered six factors that influence the experience of domestic abuse among rural women namely: drunkenness, financial demand, rebuffed sexual advances, annoyance nature of the male partner, cultural and stereotypical beliefs of the communities as well as a combination of any of these factors. It needs to be emphasized that among these six factors, financial request was mostly pointed out as the reason domestic violence occur in rural areas, which is an indication that rural men commonly experience financial stress. This may be due to the high rate of illiteracy and unemployment among rural women as well as the extended family relationship that exist in rural communities.
Keywords: Domestic Violence, Incidence, Married Women, Rural Area, Social Determinants
