Factors influencing domestic violence in Uganda: case study of Kakiri Sub-county, Wakiso District

Abstract

Domestic violence is widely acknowledged as a great concern not just in human rights perspective but also from the economic and health perspective. It is a very big challenge among married partners in Uganda and has become a very challenging turmoil in the last 10 years. Globally victims of domestic violence are overwhelmingly women and they tend to experience more severe forms of it. The study was done to ascertain the factors influencing domestic violence in Uganda using Kakiri Sub-county, Wakiso district as the case study. The study aimed at identifying and addressing all issues concerning domestic violence. The study was both quantitative and qualitative. Data was collected using questionnaires and a sample size of 96 respondents. data was analyzed using SPSS and the resulted were presented using frequency distribution tables, charts and graphs. Among the major findings, domestic violence was found to be understood as fighting in homes (62.5%) by the majority and the deadly dismaying habit was found to be caused by poverty or income status (53.1%), followed by substance abuse (20.8%), level of education (19.8%) and the rest norms and beliefs. Additionally, the study discovered that its always the female (80.21%) that are always the main victims. Among the strategies for minimizing domestic violence, the respondents agreed that sensitization should be done to make everyone aware of the deadly act and also setting up systems to identify the victims and survivors and also providing them with services to help them. Consequently, the study concluded that strategies that have the ability to handle economic factors influencing violence such as empowering women financially or economically independent ma also work may in eliminating the problem of domestic violence. It also concludes that policy makers have to ensure that the different strategies are strengthened and acted upon. Finally, additional research should be conducted in the socio- cultural variables such as race, religion as other crucial information related to the unique characteristics of the community needs to be taken into account in order to provide helpful insights into the country’s profile of domestic violence.