According to an article published in the 13-19 December 1993 issue of West Africa, an unmarried woman in Nigerian society has little value: "Women are made to feel worthless in the community if they are not married" (ibid.). The source quotes a young Nigerian woman as stating that
If you're not married, have one or two children by the age of 30, people begin to think that something is wrong with you...No matter how qualified you are, in Nigerian society you're still considered a failure if you have not married and given birth to at least one child by the age of, say, 28.

The article further states that women prefer to remain in abusive marriages due to societal pressure (ibid.). Molara Ogundipe-Leslie, a Nigerian writer, adds the following:
A childless woman is considered a monstrosity-as is an unmarried woman (spinster or divorcee), who becomes the butt of jokes and scandal and the quarry of every passing man, married or not. She is often seen by males as an unclaimed and degenerating commodity to be exploited in all ways, including emotionally and sexually, financially and intellectually (1984, 501).

According to information provided in Sisterhood is Global, rape is illegal under the Criminal Code and is reportedly punishable by life imprisonment (Morgan 1984, 496). For information on whether a raped woman is likely to get married, please refer to Response to Information Request NGA16040.E of
10 January 1994. For detailed information on the treatment of women in Nigeria, please refer to the attached documents.

This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Documentation Information and Research Branch (DIRB), Immigration and Refugee Board, Ottawa. 10 January 1994. Response to Information Request NGA16040.E.

Ogundipe-Leslie, Molara. 1984. "Nigeria: Not Spinning on the Axis of Maleness," Sisterhood is Global. Edited by Robin Morgan. New York: Doubleday.

West Africa [London]. 13-19 December 1993. Emete Wanogho. "Women, Marriage and Divorce."

Molara Ogundipe-Leslie. In Robin Morgan. Ed. 1984. Sisterhood is Global. New York: Doubleday: Anchor Books.

West Africa [London]. 13-19 December 1993. Emete Wanogho. "Women, Marriage and Divorce."