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. 2024 May 27:12:1412788.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1412788. eCollection 2024.

Intimate Partner Violence, prevalence and its consequences: a community-based study in Gambella, Ethiopia

Abdi Geda Gedefa  1 , Tsegaye Abdi  2 , Desalegn Chilo  3 , Gebiso Roba Debele  1 , Ayantu Girma  4 , Misra Abdulahi  5
Affiliations

Intimate Partner Violence, prevalence and its consequences: a community-based study in Gambella, Ethiopia

Abdi Geda Gedefa et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

Introduction: Intimate partner violence is defined as any behavior by a current or past male intimate partner during marriage, cohabitation, or any other formal or informal union that causes physical, sexual, or psychological harm. Men are the most common perpetrators of this against women. It affects almost one-third of all women worldwide.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the prevalence, consequences, and factors associated with intimate partner violence among partnered women in Gambella town.

Methods: A community-based, cross-sectional study design was employed. A systematic random sampling technique was used to select the study participants. Data was collected using a pretested, structured questionnaire. The data were entered and analyzed using SPSS software version 25. The bivariate and multivariate logistic regression method was used to identify factors associated with intimate partner violence. Variables with a p-value <0.05 were considered significantly associated with intimate partner violence.

Results: The overall prevalence of intimate partner violence in the lifetime and the last 12 months was 58.8, 95% CI (54.0, 63.6), and 51.8, 95% CI (46.7, 56.8), respectively. More than half (53.3%) of the violence resulted in physical injury, while 32.9% were separated from their partners whereas, mother's history of exposure to IPV [AOR: 1.8, 95% CI (1.03-3.27), p < 0.05], respondent's age [AOR: 3.4, 95% CI (1.8, 6.5), p < 0.001], substance use [AOR:2.5, 95% CI (1.5-4.1), p < 0.001], disagreement on sexual intercourse [AOR:3.2, 95% CI (1.8-5.7), p < 0.01], monthly family income [AOR:0.32, 95% CI: (0.16-0.63), p < 0.01] and family size [AOR:2.8, 95% CI: (1.6-4.8), p < 0.01] were significantly associated with IPV.

Conclusion: The study indicated that the prevalence of intimate partner violence was very high. Age of the woman, family size, substance use, economic status, were among factors significantly associated with intimate partner violence. Therefore, responsible stakeholders should respond to the deep-rooted and highly complicated gender inequality by implementing preventive measures.

Keywords: Ethiopia; Gambella town; gender-based violence; intimate partner violence; women’s health; women’s rights.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic presentation of sampling procedure to assess IPV among married women in Gambella town, 2021. *HH, house holds; *SRS, simple random sampling.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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