Intimate Partners Violence in Sub-Saharan Africa: Review of Risk Factors and Impacts

Abstract

Background: Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) against women is one of the most known public health concerns. The depth of the problem varies across regions and different settings. The purpose of this scooping review is to assess the overall prevalence and risk factors of IPV in the context of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
 Methods: The review was conducted based on 24 articles selected from PubMed and google search. The selection considered only those conducted in SSA based on a representative sample size of women of reproductive age (15-49), published in peer-reviewed journals in the last ten years, and those having resemblance in study design and conceptualization of IPV.
 Results: While slight methodological variations exist among the individual studies, nearly all the reported prevalence of IPV were unacceptably high. The lifetime experience of IPV ranged from about 20% in some societies to more than 75% in other settings. Physical and emotional violence were the most frequently reported type of IPV. One common feature of all studies reviewed is that they all recognized the important role of women’s attitude (acceptance) towards their experience of IPV. Good proportion (ranging between 33-57%) of women justified IPV more often than men do. The studies further documented a wide range of risk factors associated with IPV, more importantly, low maternal and paternal education, partner's alcohol drinking behavior, childhood experience of domestic violence, and certain household and community/cultural factors.
 Conclusion: Given considerable proportion of women experienced one or more forms of IPV in most settings in SSA, national and local governments have a long way to go in preventing or reducing its occurrence in their geographic areas if they must meet SDG 3 (i.e., better health of children and women). Since IPV is embedded in most cultures; concerned authorities should establish appropriate norms, enhance women's status, and ensure proper implementation of policies and laws on abuse. Community reflections, mass education/ behavioral change communications are essential in this endeavor.

Water, sanitation, and intimate partner violence: Insights from Kibra Slums, Nairobi

“…We found that 71.6% of women who had no access to water and 72% of women who had no access to a toilet reported a form of IPV. These findings align with a multi-country survey in SSA on IPV as reported by Guli and Geda [ 18 ] that has consistently highlighted the high prevalence of IPV in slums associated with lack of water and sanitation facilities. However, to achieve the objectives of this study, we controlled for other covariates to analyse the association between WASH accessibility and IPV exposure.…”

The prevalence, incidence, and recurrence of intimate partner violence and its association with adverse childhood experiences among pregnant and breastfeeding women living with HIV in Malawi

“…43,44 Similar to other studies, depression, alcohol abuse, and number of previous pregnancies were associated to IPV prevalence. 73,74 While additional research focusing on the links between ACEs, IPV, depression, and alcohol abuse outcomes among pregnant/breastfeeding women living with HIV in this setting is warranted, the evidence from this study suggests that those experiencing forms of IPV and ACEs also have concomitant conditions such depression and alcohol abuse.…”

Exposure to interparental violence and risk of intimate partner violence among women in sexual unions in sub-Saharan Africa

“…The trends of experience of the various forms of IPV, with emotional violence being the most common, are similar to what has been reported in South Africa, where 81% of pregnant women who experience IPV reported emotional abuse, 76% reported physical abuse and 26% reported sexual abuse. 26 Emotional and physical violence have been identified as common forms of IPV in countries in SSA, 17,27 and sexual violence appears to be under-reported in several African settings because of the stigma associated with IPV victims. 17 The prevalence of women's exposure to interparental violence in this study is similar to the prevalence reported in some developing countries, such as Bangladesh (26.4%), 18 but significantly higher than the prevalence reported in many developed countries (e.g.…”

“…The trends of experience of the various forms of IPV, with emotional violence being the most common, are similar to what has been reported in South Africa, where 81% of pregnant women who experience IPV reported emotional abuse, 76% reported physical abuse and 26% reported sexual abuse. 26 Emotional and physical violence have been identified as common forms of IPV in countries in SSA, 17 , 27 and sexual violence appears to be under-reported in several African settings because of the stigma associated with IPV victims. 17 …”