Factors associated with physical intimate partner violence against women aged 15-49 years in Central Uganda

Abstract

Background: Violence against women and girls is a major public health issue, a violation of human rights, and is linked to a number of harmful effects on one’s physical, mental, sexual, and reproductive health. I examined factors associated with physical intimate partner violence (PIPV) against women of reproductive age (15-49) in Uganda Methods: The study, based on data from the 2016 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS), analyzed 2667 weighted cases of women aged 15–49. Both Chi-squared tests and binary logistic regressions were used to analyze the data and examine the predictors of physical intimate partner violence. The main explanatory variables included age, total children ever born, education, wealth index, religion, alcohol consumption and witness of parental violence. Results: The overall prevalence of physical domestic violence among married women in Uganda was 20%. Education, wealth husband drinks alcohol and witnessing parental violence were found to be the predictors of physical intimate partner violence (PIPV) among women of reproductive age in Uganda. Women’s level of education, witnessing parental violence and partner drinks alcohol. Women with tertiary education (OR =0.18, CI=0.08-0.42) were less likely to experience physical IPV compared with women with no education. The odds of experiencing physical IPV were higher for women whose husbands were drinking alcohol (OR=1.79, CI=1.31-2.44) compared to women whose husbands were not drinking alcohol. Likewise, experience of physical IPV was higher among women who witnessed parental violence (OR=1.86, CI=1.35-2.56) compared to their counter parts who never witnessed parental violence. Conclusion: Both socioeconomic and behavioral-level factors influenced physical intimate partner violence in Uganda. Integrating behavioral level factors when designing interventions to address gender-based would be key to reduce women’s vulnerability to gender-based violence in the country. There is need to re-evaluate and re-strategize current strategies being implemented to address gender-based violence in the country to make them context specific. Keywords: Women, Physical intimate partner violence, Uganda.