Domestic violence against women in Eastern Sudan

Abstract

BackgroundViolence against women is one of the major public health problems in both developed and developing worlds. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of current (occurred in one year preceding the survey) domestic violence and socio-demographic factors associated with domestic violence against women.MethodsThis was a cross sectional household survey (face to face interview) conducted in Kassala, eastern Sudan, from 1st March to 1st June 2014. Multivariable analyses were performed, Confidence intervals of 95% were calculated and P < 0.05 was considered significant.ResultsOf the 1009 women, 33.5% (338) reported current experience of physical violence and, of these 338 women, 179 (53%) and 159 (47%) reported moderate and severe form of physical violence respectively. The prevalence of sexual coercion, psychological violence and verbal insult was 17% (172\1009), 30.1% (304\1009) and 47.6% (480\1009) respectively. In the majority of cases, violence was experienced as repeated acts, ie, more than three times per year. For verbal insult 20.1% (203\480) and 27.5% (277\480) reported yelling and shouting respectively. Again 251 (24.9%) and 270 (26.8%) women reported that they experience divorce threat and second marriage threat respectively. In logistic regression model, husband’s education (OR = 1.5; CI = 1.0-2.1; P = 0.015), polygamous marriage (OR = 1.9; CI = 1.3-2.9; P = 0.000), and husband’s alcohol consumption (OR = 13.9; CI = 7.9-25.4; P <0.000) were significantly associated with domestic violence.ConclusionsDomestic violence was found to be highly prevalent in eastern Sudan and strongly associated with the educational status, polygamous marriage and husband’s alcohol consumption. We recommend more research to include men.

Pattern of oral‐maxillofacial trauma from violence against women and its associated factors

“…1,9,38 The findings of this study highlight the importance of public awareness regarding physical violence against women, as well as preventive measures for maxillofacial injuries. As observers, professionals working in primary health care are in a unique position to detect, treat, and refer victims to institutions that can offer specialized assistance.…”

“…1 Injuries to the head, face, or neck seem to be suggestive and not specific markers of interpersonal physical violence, demonstrating that a full examination of the victim is essential in the investigation of this problem. In developing countries, the high prevalence of violence seems to be associated with low socioeconomic conditions of the population and to the rules of social interaction that implicitly encourage women to accept the different behaviors of men.…”

“…In developing countries, the high prevalence of violence seems to be associated with low socioeconomic conditions of the population and to the rules of social interaction that implicitly encourage women to accept the different behaviors of men. 1 Injuries to the head, face, or neck seem to be suggestive and not specific markers of interpersonal physical violence, demonstrating that a full examination of the victim is essential in the investigation of this problem. 12,26 When the victim is a woman, the case must be investigated regardless of the injury location, because there is the possibility that the victim is a victim of physical violence due to gender vulnerability.…”

The increase in domestic violence in Brazil from 2009-2014

“…Violence in the family environment accounts for a significant proportion of the morbidity and mortality rates in Brazil We found that adolescents and adults (10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19) and 20-59 years old) are the age groups at risk for DV. Violence against adolescents and young adults is an important cause of early mortality and reduced life quality 25 .…”

“…Sexual violence, either by intimate partners or not, is widespread, mainly affecting women worldwide [6][7][8] . In Brazil, as in other countries, most violent episodes are related to alcohol abuse, illicit drug use, and access to weapons 9,10 . Not only women, but also children and elderly, are most at risk of being domestic violence (DV) victims.…”