A Corpus-Assisted Critical Discourse Analysis of Social Actors and Actions in Newspaper Reportage on Domestic Violence in Nigeria

1 Introduction

Domestic violence is a pervasive issue affecting individuals across various demographics. It encompasses multiple forms of abuse, including physical aggression such as slapping, hitting, kicking, or beating, psychological abuse like intimidation, persistent belittling or humiliation, forced sexual intercourse, and controlling behaviors such as isolating an individual from family and friends, monitoring their activities, and limiting access to information or support (Krug et al. 2002). While domestic violence affects both men and women, media narratives play a powerful role in shaping societal perceptions of gender roles, especially regarding victimhood and perpetration. In Nigeria, over the past decade, domestic violence has been portrayed in ways that reflect broader societal norms, reinforcing deeply embedded gender roles that shape how male and female social actors are viewed. The portrayal of domestic violence in Nigerian media not only influences public perception but also contributes to how society responds to and addresses this issue. Despite increased media attention on domestic violence in Nigeria, there remains a lack of comprehensive analysis regarding how gender is represented within these narratives. This study seeks to fill this gap by offering a corpus-based analysis of domestic violence reportage in Nigerian media between 2013 and 2023. It focuses on how male and female social actors are represented, their roles as either victims or perpetrators, and the actions (verbs) attributed to them in media reports, revealing how the actions contributes to the broader narrative of gender dynamics. Ultimately, the study seeks to provide insights into the evolution of gender representation in domestic violence narratives and its implications for public understanding and policy responses.

2 Literature Review

In media discourse, the representation of social issues, particularly sensitive ones like domestic violence, has been extensively analyzed. Media plays a critical role in shaping public understanding and reinforcing or challenging societal norms. In recent years, corpus-assisted discourse studies have explored various themes, providing significant insights into how language reflects and constructs social realities. For instance, Karaminis et al. (2022) examined autism representation in the British media, while Dayrell et al. (2022) focused on drought. Other research has delved into how Islam (Clarke 2022), obesity (Brookes and Baker 2021), schizophrenia (Balfour 2023), and terrorism (McEnery et al. 2015) are framed in news coverage. These studies highlight the capacity of media discourse to reflect and perpetuate ideologies, social values, and power dynamics.

Specifically, in the context of gender and social issues, researchers like Fišer and Pahor de Maiti (2020) have used corpus linguistics to examine the representation of women in Slovenian parliamentary debates, while Sarfo-Kantankah (2022) analyzed the portrayal of gender-based violence (GBV) in Ghanaian parliamentary debates. Similarly, Love and Baker (2015) explored political disapproval of same-sex marriage in the UK, demonstrating how discourse reveals ideological stances on controversial topics. These studies show how discourse analysis, when combined with corpus methodologies, provides a rich understanding of how societal issues like gender and violence are framed in public discourse.

In Nigeria, the media’s portrayal of domestic violence reflects broader societal norms influenced by cultural, religious, and historical factors. Research on Nigerian media reveals a tendency to reinforce traditional gender roles. Bakare et al (2010) highlight the media’s significance in society and its role as a tool for social change. They emphasise the use of television, radio, and newspapers in curbing domestic violence through continuous public education to raise awareness among the Nigerian populace. Owusu-Addo et al. (2018) found that articles framed violence against women in an episodic, incident-based manner, while only few presented these stories within a broader social context (thematic framing). Mwai (2016) noted that just 28 percent of data was derived from news analysis, with 72 percent coming from general news reports. Additionally, most stories on gender-based violence were reported on less than a quarter of a page, underscoring the limited space and prominence given to these issues in Nigerian media. The traditional media, especially the newspaper, has been gravely criticised as being passive and acting more like a lapdog on issues of public concern, such as domestic violence (Ekweonu, 2020. Given the critical role that media plays in shaping public discourse, it becomes essential to explore how social actors, specifically men and women, are represented in media coverage of domestic violence. Additionally, understanding the actions attributed to these actors can shed light on how gender roles and the dynamics of victimhood and perpetration are framed. Therefore, this study seeks to answer the following research questions:

1. How are male and female social actors represented in terms of victimhood and perpetration in Nigerian media coverage of domestic violence from 2013 to 2023?

2. What are the social actions (verbs) attributed to male and female social actors in Nigerian media coverage of domestic violence, and how do these actions shape gendered representations of victimhood and perpetration?

3 Corpus-Assisted Critical Discourse Analysis (CACDA)

Corpus-Assisted Critical Discourse Analysis (CACDA) is an interdisciplinary methodology that merges corpus linguistics with critical discourse analysis (CDA) to examine how language both reflects and reinforces societal ideologies, power relations, and social structures. This combination allows for the examination of both micro-level textual features and macro-level sociocultural contexts, offering a comprehensive approach to understanding discourse across various domains, including media, politics, and social issues. One of the key benefits of combining corpus linguistics with discourse analysis is the ability to integrate quantitative and qualitative approaches, enhancing both fields. The quantitative rigor of corpus linguistics addresses criticisms of CDA, such as those raised by Breeze (2011) and Stubbs (1997), who argue that CDA often lacks systematicity and transparency in text selection.

Conversely, discourse analysis provides depth to corpus findings by offering qualitative insights into how identified linguistic patterns operate in specific contexts. The combination of these two methodologies, as seen in this study, allows for a more thorough and balanced analysis. Corpus-assisted techniques systematically identify patterns, while discourse analysis offers critical depth to understanding how these patterns reflect and shape social ideologies. Thus, the systematic, data-driven insights of corpus linguistics, combined with the critical, context-aware approach of CDA, allow for a nuanced understanding of media discourse. Through CACDA, this study provides a detailed critique of media narratives, revealing the importance of addressing entrenched stereotypes and promoting more inclusive and accurate portrayals of all individuals affected by domestic violence.

4 Methodology

This study employed AntConc, corpus analysis toolkit developed by Laurence Anthony, to investigate media discourse on domestic violence for a decade (2013–2023). Two corpora were compiled for this study: Target Domestic Violence Corpus (TDVC) consisting of news articles specifically discussing domestic violence, domestic abuse, gender-based violence, and intimate partner violence, totaling 677,995 words, and the Reference Corpus, Nigerian General News Corpus (NGNC), which provides a comparative baseline. The Nigerian General News Corpus (NGNC) was compiled as a general news baseline to support reliable keyword comparison. To ensure representativeness and balance, the corpus was constructed through a combination of automated retrieval and manual verification. Articles were selected from reputable Nigerian news outlets and screened to ensure they reflected general news content rather than specialized or thematic reporting. To further demonstrate balance, topical coverage in NGNC is nearly even (1.43–2.50 %), with most topics clustering around 2.1–2.2 %, indicating no single topic dominates the corpus. The reference corpus was compiled from news reports covering a broad range of topics, including government, politics, economy, health, infrastructure, business, technology, culture, sports, entertainment, crime, justice, security, international relations, migration, agriculture, energy, transportation, and religion. It contains 7,700,235 words and was compiled from the same 2013–2023 period as the target corpus. The alignment in the time frame between the target and reference corpora ensures that any observed differences in keyword prominence are due to thematic focus rather than temporal changes in language use, making the comparison more robust. The TDVC was compiled using a combination of keyword filtering and manual screening to ensure that all included news reports were thematically relevant to domestic violence.

A keyword analysis was conducted to identify gendered key actors and the verbs associated with them in the target corpus, as compared to the reference corpus. The keyword analysis used a span of five words to the left (5L) and five words to the right (5R) of the search terms to capture the surrounding context, as well as the likelihood and effect size of these keywords. Keyword identification was carried out using log-likelihood statistics with a significance threshold set at p < 0.0002. For inclusion, social actor categories were required to occur at least 150 times in the TDVC. This threshold ensured that selected actors were both statistically significant and sufficiently frequent for qualitative interpretation. On this basis, four social actors, women, wives, men, and husbands, emerged as the most prominent, while others such as mothers, spouses, or perpetrators did not meet this cut-off and were excluded. This dual-sided analysis provides a more comprehensive understanding of the associations and actions connected to gendered social actors, highlighting terms with high statistical prominence and importance for a focused examination.

Collocation analysis was performed on each identified social actor to explore their representation within the discourse using the same 5L and 5R span. This analysis helps uncover the “company that words keep” (Baker 2016, p. 139), offering insights into how social actors are framed in relation to the actions and descriptors surrounding them. From the results of collocation, I specifically filtered out irrelevant grammatical items (such as articles and pronouns) to focus on content words like nouns, verbs and adjectives, providing a clearer picture of the representational descriptors associated with each social actor and actions. The filtered collocates were then analysed using van Leeuwen’s socio-semantic framework, with a particular focus on two categories: Exclusion, which examines how certain social actors are omitted or underrepresented in the discourse, revealing implicit biases or silences; and Role Allocation, which examines how roles, especially those involving agency or passivity, are assigned to social actors, analysed through the transitivity system developed by M.A.K. Halliday.

5 Theoretical Framework

Van Leeuwen’s socio-semantic theory offers a framework for understanding how social actors are represented in discourse. According to van Leeuwen (2008), the representation of social actors involves various strategies that either include or exclude certain participants, thereby shaping the audience’s understanding of who is involved in a given event and their roles within it. Social actors can be depicted as active or passive, generalized or individualised, and ascribed various attributes that influence how they are perceived by the public. Social actors can be thought of as “the textual instantiations of models of the self and others, both individual and collective” (Koller 2009). Analysing social actor representation, therefore, involves looking at what choices are available, in any given language, for referring to social entities. Van Leeuwen’s socio-semantic theory explores how social actors are represented in discourse, focusing on how they are portrayed as active or passive, individual or generalized. These representations are shaped by both linguistic choices and socio-semantic meanings, influencing how actors are perceived (Koller 2009; van Leeuwen, 1996).

On the other hand, Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) as developed by M.A.K. Halliday (1985; Halliday & Matthiessen, 2013), views language as a dynamic system where elements interact and influence each other, rather than a mere collection of words. This functional perspective contrasts with formal analyses that consider language in isolation from its social context, emphasizing instead how language functions to convey meaning in social settings. Central to SFL is the concept of paradigmatic choice, which asserts that linguistic choices are not neutral but carry evaluative meaning, reflecting the speaker’s or writer’s worldview. This principle is particularly evident in Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG), which explores how grammar constructs meaning through various processes.

One key system in Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) is the transitivity system, which examines how language represents actions, events, and states of being. Through this system, different types of actions and the roles of participants are categorized, providing a deeper understanding of how meaning is constructed in language.

Material processes deal with physical actions and events, focusing on what is done, who performs the action (the Actor), and who or what is affected by it (the Goal).

Mental processes relate to cognition, perception, and emotion, capturing what individuals think, feel, or perceive. These processes reveal internal experiences, focusing on the mental states and reactions of participants.

Verbal processes are concerned with communication, involving the act of saying, reporting, or representing speech. They describe how information is conveyed or exchanged through language.

Existential processes express existence or occurrence, identifying that something exists or happens. These processes typically use forms of the verb “to be” or other verbs of existence, focusing on the existence of an entity or event.

Relational processes define relationships between entities, describing how one thing is connected to another or how an entity is characterized. They describe either identification or attribution, explaining qualities or roles.

Behavioral processes bridge the gap between mental and material processes, representing physiological or psychological actions, such as breathing, laughing, or crying.

Together, these transitivity processes provide a comprehensive framework for analyzing how language represents different types of experiences and events.

The distribution of reportage across the selected newspapers during the studied period is presented in the Table 1 below, providing a clear view of how these topics were covered across different media outlets.

6 Presentation of Results and Data Analyses

In this section, I present the results first, followed by the analyses of female and male social actors in media coverage of domestic violence, drawing on reports from 10 newspapers using corpus linguistics methods. I identify and examine the frequency and context of terms related to social actors within our target corpus, which is Domestic violence report corpus (DVRC), and compare them with a reference corpus (NGNC), within the same period. The analysis encompasses the representations of both male and female actors throughout the period analysed.

The following table presents the identified prominent social actors, their frequencies, and keyness values within the corpus.

The keyword analysis in Table 2 reveals significant gender-related disparities in the media coverage of domestic violence. The term ‘women’ is the most prominent, appearing 6,134 times in the target corpus with a high keyness value of 16,918.866, indicating a strong focus on women in discussions of domestic violence. In contrast, male-related terms such as ‘men’ and ‘husbands’ appear less frequently, with ‘men’ mentioned 1,116 times and ‘husbands’ only 164 times. The keyness values for these terms, 1,719.056 and 721.427 respectively, suggest that while men are part of the discourse, their roles are less central compared to women. The term ‘wives’ is mentioned 244 times with a keyness value of 1,031.551, reflecting the focus on wives in the context of domestic violence, but still at a lower prominence compared to ‘women’. Therefore, the results indicate a strong gendered dimension in the media’s portrayal of domestic violence, with a significant focus on women and girls as the primary subjects, while men and husbands receive comparatively less attention. This gendered framing is consistent with findings from a study conducted in Edo State, Southern Nigeria, which reported that 79.7 % of intimate partner violence (IPV) victims were female, with 20.3 % male victims (Tijani et al 2022). The prevalence of IPV was found to be 37.7 % overall, and while men are indeed affected by IPV, the higher proportion of female victims underscores the gender disparities that are often reflected in media coverage.ca This suggests that media coverage tends to frame domestic violence issues more around female experiences and perspectives, aligning with the higher prevalence of IPV among women in various settings, including Nigeria. This alignment between empirical findings and media discourse highlights the continued focus on women as the primary victims of domestic violence, reinforcing the gendered narrative in the media portrayal of such issues.

Table 3 below offer a detailed overview of the verbs connected to female actors in the analysed reportage, highlighting the overall representation of women and the implications of these.

The examples presented in Table 4 below provide a comprehensive analysis of the adjectives associated with female actors in the analyzed reportage, shedding light on their overall representation and the implications.

The analysis of the role allocation of women presented in Table 5 above reveals a significant tendency toward passive representation. As shown in Table 3, 73.33 % of the verbs associated with women are passive, while only 26.67 % are active. This distribution suggests that women are often represented as objects rather than agents of action in the analyzed texts. The predominance of passive verbs like: “suffered,” “abused,” “killed,” and “subjected” exhibit notably high likelihood scores and reflects a representation of women as recipients of actions, often in contexts of victimisation or subjugation. This passive representation implies that women are more often seen as victims who are being acted upon rather than taking action themselves, reinforcing traditional stereotypes of women as vulnerable or powerless. Also, from the table of adjectives above, we can see distinct representations associated with each ‘women’. The adjectives represented them with a strong emphasis on vulnerability and age. The term “vulnerable” has a high likelihood score of 15.45, indicating that women are frequently depicted as susceptible to harm and in need of protection. The adjective “young” shows a significant likelihood score of 16.23, reflecting the representation of women in their youth. In contrast, “aged” has a likelihood score of 13.78, highlighting the depiction of women as older. Additional terms like “disabilities” (9.76) and “indigenous” (8.67) reflect specific aspects of identity and social status, suggesting that women are represented in diverse roles that often emphasize their vulnerability and age.

The result in Table 6 above reveals that 81 % of the verbs associated with ’wives’ are in the active voice, while only 19 % are in the passive voice. This significant disparity suggests that ’wives’ are more often depicted as agents who actively participate in actions within the narratives, rather than as passive recipients of actions. From Table 3, the verbs ‘beat,’ ‘batter,’ ‘abused,’ and ‘beaten’ reveal a complex portrayal involving both victimisation and aggression. The effect scores for these verbs, particularly ‘beat’ and ‘abused,’ indicate significant attention to domestic violence, portraying wives as both victims and potential perpetrators of violence. This dual representation reflects the intricate gender dynamics within domestic contexts, where wives are shown experiencing and sometimes perpetuating violence. Also, the adjectives reveal a representation with regional and negative descriptors. The term ‘southern’ has a high likelihood score of 68.210, indicating a strong regional association in the depiction of wives. The adjectives ‘derogatory’ (23.012), ‘habitually’ (18.831), ‘lazy’ (17.146), and ‘prospective’ (15.967) suggest a portrayal with critical or judgmental attributes. High likelihood scores for ‘derogatory’ and ‘lazy’ point to a negative representation of wives, reflecting stereotypes and derogatory views. This array of adjectives illustrates a complex depiction that includes both regional identifiers and negative descriptors.

As shown in Table 7, verbs indicate that men are portrayed both as perpetrators and as victims of domestic violence, while the Adjectives reinforce dual notions of dominance and vulnerability.

The analysis of verbs associated with ‘men’ in media reportage reveals nuanced representations through both active and passive constructions, providing insight into how men are presented in the context of domestic violence and broader societal roles. As shown in Table 8, pssive verbs account for 73.3 % of the verbs associated with “men,” while active verbs make up 26.7 %, indicating that men are more often depicted as passive subjects rather than active agents in these contexts. In the provided excerpts, the representation of men through verbs above reflects different roles and dynamics. Active verbs like ‘shift’, ‘engage’ and ‘encourage’ depict men as active agents in addressing and transforming gender-related issues, highlighting their potential influence in challenging and altering societal norms. Conversely, passive verbs such as ‘suffer’ ‘abused’ portray men in more victimized or reactive roles, often emphasizing their experiences of harm or the impact of actions done to them rather than by them. Finally, the repetitive use of ‘perpetrated’ underscores a critical focus on men’s involvement in committing these acts, framing them as the primary offenders in various forms of violence. This representation emphasizes men’s responsibility for and direct contribution to harmful behaviors, thus portraying them largely in a negative light.

The representation of “husbands” in the provided verb tables reveals a predominantly passive portrayal within the context of violence and abuse. In Table 9 above the verbs surrounding “husbands” are largely passive, with 60 % of instances highlighting their role as victims or subjects of actions performed by others. For instance, ‘battered’ and ‘killed’ depict husbands as experiencing these violent actions inflicted upon them by their spouses, emphasising their victimisation. This passive representation contrasts with the 40 % of active verbs, which position husbands as the perpetrators of violence, such as ‘turn’ and ‘beating’. The use of these active verbs suggests that husbands can also be seen as actors in violent scenarios, turning their spouses into victims. Therefore, the dominant passive construction in the verb usage indicates a focus on the suffering and victimisation of husbands, while the active verbs present a more complex narrative where husbands are also implicated as aggressors, reflecting the multifaceted nature of gender dynamics in violence.

7 Gender Representation in the Media Reportage of Domestic Violence in Nigeria from 2013 to 2023

The representation of gender in media coverage of domestic violence has received substantial media coverage during the period (2013–2023); however, the representation of men and women in these reports frequently adheres to conventional gender roles, shaping public perceptions of victims and perpetrators. This section delves into the patterns of gender representation in media reportage on domestic violence in Nigeria during this ten-year period. Through this analysis, we aim to understand the broader implications of these representations for societal attitudes towards domestic violence and gender roles.

8 Exclusion of Male and Female Actors as Perpetrators of Domestic Violence(DV) in the Media Reportage

In the examination of media reportage during the period, the KWIC (Key Word in Context) analysis reveals how these exclusions occur, highlighting how media narratives often suppress or background individuals of both genders in their roles as perpetrators. This analysis aims to uncover how such omissions reinforce existing stereotypes and contribute to a distorted public understanding of the complexities involved in domestic violence. I will begin by analysing the exclusion of male-related actors as perpetrators of domestic violence, followed by an examination of female-related actors.

9 Role Allocation and Social Actions of Female Actors in the Media Reportage

According to Theo van Leeuwen, role allocation refers to the way in which social actors are represented in discourse in terms of the roles they are assigned in actions and events. It involves the distribution of roles and highlights how individuals or groups are either activated (represented as active participants) or passivated (represented as passive recipients) in a given narrative. In activation, social actors are portrayed as the ones who carry out the actions, while in passivation, they are depicted as those who are affected by actions, either as recipients or beneficiaries. This process of role allocation is crucial in determining how power dynamics, agency, and social roles are constructed and communicated within discourse.

Example 3: Role allocation of ‘Women’ in the Reportage.

Example 4: Role allocation of ‘Wives’ in the Reportage.

Female actors as exemplified above are frequently positioned as passive participants. In Examples 3(i, ii) , women are represented as the goals of material processes (were abused, are being killed), which depict violence being done to them rather than by them. These representation reinforce a narrative of victimhood and helplessness. Similarly, in Example 3(iii), women are constructed through a relational process (are encouraging abuse) that associates them with a negative trait, shifting responsibility onto them and risking a victim-blaming perspective. At the same time, some examples frame women more positively. In Example 3(iv), the relational process (have power) connects them with strength, offering a counterbalance to the representation of vulnerability.

Furthermore in Example 4, wives are represented in overlapping but distinct ways. Examples 4(i and ii) show them as passive recipients of violence (beat, batter), reinforcing gendered power dynamics in which men appear as aggressors and wives as dependent victims. However, Examples 4(iii) and (iv) disrupt this pattern, casting wives as active perpetrators of violence while men are depicted as passive victims. These constructions invert traditional gender expectations, complicating the narrative of women as solely powerless.

Thus, these dual pattern of representation, on one hand position female actors as passive, vulnerable, and subjected to violence, supporting stereotypes of dependency and helplessness and on the other hand, as active agents who inflict harm, complicating the usual narrative of female victimhood. This more nuanced depiction suggests that in the context of domestic violence reportage, female actors are represented not only as powerless victims but also as participants in cycles of violence, thereby offering a complex and layered account of gendered roles.

10 Role Allocation and Social Actions of Male Actors in the Media Reportage

In media reportage, male actors are often portrayed in specific roles that reflect societal expectations of masculinity. The way these roles are allocated can highlight how men are represented as either active agents, or as passive participants. This representation influences public perceptions of male behavior and social actions, reinforcing or challenging traditional notions of masculinity.

Example 5: Role allocation of ‘Men’ in the Reportage.

Examples 6: Role allocation of ‘Husbands’ in the Reportage.

Interestingly, male actors (men and husbands) are represented in the reportage through both passive and active constructions, revealing a duality of victimhood and aggression. These representations highlight men’s vulnerability in contexts of domestic violence while also reinforcing their role as dominant figures in marital relationships. In Example 5i, the verb ‘suffer’ represents men as victims, emphasizing their direct experience of harm and drawing attention to an often-overlooked dimension of male victimization. In Example 5ii, men are represented as proactive participants, with ‘engage’ positioning them as agents of social transformation. Likewise, Example 5iii represents men as central figures in cultural and personal decision-making, reinforcing their authority in shaping gender dynamics. In contrast, Example 5iv uses the passive verb ‘abused’ to represent men as recipients of violence, while Example 5v represents them as victims of extreme aggression. These instances challenge conventional narratives that frame men only as aggressors. The representation of husbands introduces further complexity. In example 6i and 6ii, husbands are represented as aggressors, aligning with dominant masculine stereotypes of violence and control. However, Example 6iii represents husbands as victims of spousal violence. Finally, Example 6iv represents husbands as perpetrators whose actions result in fatal outcomes, reinforcing their role as enforcers of patriarchal dominance. Adjectival patterns further develop these representations. Men are described as unequal, situating them within systemic gender imbalances, but also as powerful, highlighting their influence over societal change, and as shy, capturing their reluctance to express vulnerability. For husbands, the adjectives battered, abusive, and submissive frame them within cycles of violence and control, with abusive emphasizing aggression, battered highlighting their wives’ victimhood, and submissive reflecting patriarchal expectations placed on women, which indirectly reinforce male dominance. This dual representation underscores the complexity of masculinity in media discourse, where agency and vulnerability intersect.

11 Discussion

The analysis of Nigerian media coverage on domestic violence from 2013 to 2023 reveals a persistent reinforcement of traditional gender stereotypes, with women predominantly represented as victims and men as aggressors. This selective representation obscures the complex realities of domestic violence, where both genders can be victims and perpetrators. Conversely, female perpetrators and male victims are notably underrepresented, with media narratives rarely highlighting women as aggressors or men as victims. Such selective representation not only reinforces gender stereotypes but also contributes to a skewed public understanding of domestic violence, obscuring the full spectrum of experiences and dynamics involved. The role allocation of women in media reportage on domestic violence in Nigeria from 2013 to 2023 reveals a significant tendency toward passive representation. Women are predominantly represented as recipients of actions rather than active agents. Similarly, the representation of ‘wives’ in media reportage predominantly portrays them as active agents, with 81 % of associated verbs being in the active voice. This suggests that wives are more often depicted as participants in actions rather than passive recipients. The verbs ‘beat’, ‘batter’, ‘abused’ and ‘beaten’ highlight the dual role of wives as both victims and potential perpetrators of violence, reflecting the complex gender dynamics within domestic settings. This aligns with earlier findings that women disproportionately experience intimate partner violence in Nigeria. Okemgbo et al. (2002) reported that more than two-thirds of women in Eastern Nigeria had experienced physical abuse from partners, while Adebayo (2014) observed that structural gender inequality continues to drive women’s vulnerability to spousal abuse. Similarly, Akinseye (2024) observes that across Sub-Saharan Africa, women are more frequently individualized and foregrounded as victims in media narratives, whereas male victimhood and perpetrator agency are often backgrounded or excluded altogether. This selective visibility sustains gendered hierarchies in public discourse and limits broader acknowledgment of domestic violence as a shared social issue. On the other hand, the representation of ‘men’ in media reportage portrays them in passive roles, with 73.3 % of associated verbs being passive. Here, men are often depicted as victims or recipients of actions rather than active participants. Verbs like ‘suffer’ and ‘abused’ emphasize men’s experiences of victimisation, challenging the traditional narrative that focuses primarily on female victims. Conversely, the use of active verbs like ‘engage’ and ‘shift’ highlights men’s potential to act as agents of change in societal issues, particularly in addressing gender inequalities. Similarly, husbands are represented primarily in passive roles, with 60 % of associated verbs depicting them as victims of violence, such as being ‘battered’ or ‘killed’ at the hands of their spouses. This contrasts with the 40 % of active verbs that position husbands as aggressors, using verbs like ‘turn’ and ‘beating’ which represent them as perpetrators of violence against their wives. The dual representations reflect the complexity of domestic violence, where husbands are both victims and aggressors. These findings acquire greater depth when connected to Nigeria’s wider social and cultural landscape. Patriarchal traditions remain deeply rooted and shape not only the prevalence of intimate partner violence but also the way it is framed in public discourse. Olatunji et al (2023) argue that men are still assumed to be perpetrators by default, even when there is evidence of male victimisation. Similarly, Ogunyemi and Aborisade (2023) show that stigma, shame, and a culture of silence discourage men from speaking about abuse, which explains their marginal presence in reporting. Institutional limitations compound this problem. Oche et al. (2024) observed widespread underreporting of violence against men in Sokoto due to fear of ridicule and lack of trust in authorities, while Fasuyi and Olajide (2023) identify shortcomings in Nigerian legal protections for male victims, leaving gaps in both justice and public recognition. Cultural expectations further shape the gendered framing of domestic violence. Onyilor and Ani (2023) demonstrate that beliefs about male headship and female submission reinforce portrayals of women as natural victims and men as natural aggressors. Zubair and Albert (2025) further illustrate how economic vulnerability and stigma intersect with gender roles in ways that silence male victimhood, even as its prevalence becomes increasingly visible. As Akinseye (2025) notes, “from COVID to post-COVID period, there was a noticeable media reportage on men’s victimhood across the regions analysed, indicating a growing recognition of male victimization and changing societal perceptions of gender roles.”

These patterns imply that media coverage of domestic violence in Nigeria cannot be understood in isolation from the country’s wider sociocultural and institutional landscape. Patriarchal traditions, religiously reinforced notions of male headship and female submission, economic precarity, and weak institutional protections collectively shape how domestic violence is framed in news reporting. The recurring tendency to depict women primarily as victims and men as aggressors therefore reflects not only discursive choices but also Nigeria’s broader cultural and structural realities. This suggests that the representations in the reportage are deeply intertwined with the nation’s distinctive sociocultural context. However, because this study analysed the data in aggregate rather than year by year, it was not able to capture potential diachronic shifts in representation.

12 Conclusions

This study has examined the representation of gender in Nigerian media coverage of domestic violence from 2013 to 2023, with a focus on the roles and actions of male and female actors. Through a comprehensive analysis, the study reveals significant gendered patterns in the portrayal of domestic violence. The findings underscore a persistent reinforcement of traditional gender stereotypes, with women predominantly depicted as victims and men as aggressors. Furthermore, the study highlights how both male and female social actors are frequently excluded or marginalized in certain roles, with male perpetrators being implied rather than explicitly identified, and female perpetrators underrepresented in media reports. The representation of women, girls, and wives reflects a tendency toward passive portrayal, while men, husbands, and male victims are often depicted as passive recipients of violence. These patterns suggest that the media contributes to the perpetuation of gendered narratives that simplify the reality of domestic violence and hinder a more nuanced understanding of its dynamics. In conclusion, the study emphasises the need for a more balanced and comprehensive approach in media reportage on domestic violence. Meanwhile, future research could adopt a year-by-year analysis to reveal whether representation of male and female actors in domestic violence reportage has changed over time.