IGWEBUIKE: African Journal of Arts and Humanities

Marriage is a well-recognized institution in every culture and religion. Most cultures and religions recognize it as a sacred institution, not just a sociological reality. Through this noble institution called marriage, the human race is perpetuated, human offspring are born, those in marriage find support for one another, inter-ethnic and family solidarity is fostered, especially through interethnic and inter-family marriages of couples, and also married couples contribute to the socio-political goals of society. With such noble goals and aspirations, it is tragic when the institution is plagued or battered with ills and evils such as domestic abuse and violence. The paper identified the fact that domestic abuse and violence take place in Urhobo and Christian marriages in Urhoboland. DAV has brought about health problems, psychological problems, and other problems for the victims of DAV. Critical analytic and hermeneutic methods are used in this paper to argue for the need to eradicate DAV. Both methods are used to decipher the basic concepts in the paper and to unravel the issues involved in the paper. The paper finds that DAV occurs in marriages in Urhoboland. The paper concludes that eradicating DAV is necessary for having fruitful and flourishing marriages and a better society in Urhoboland and beyond.

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