The relationship between poverty and domestic violence in the central region of Uganda

Abstract

The study intended to examine the relationship between poverty and domestic violence in the Central Region of Uganda. The study’s objectives were to identify the causes of poverty amongst families/households that were experiencing domestic violence in the Central Region of Uganda, to study the factors that influence domestic violence amongst families/households in the central region of Uganda and to assess the ways through which poverty leads to domestic violence. The study was based on the use of secondary data and to be precise, the Uganda Demographic Health Survey of 2016 was used in making the analysis. The study population was targeted mostly to women aged 15-49 years and the study area was the capital city of Uganda, Kampala City. Univariate, Bivariate and multivariate analysis were used in the study. Domestic violence was measured using a variable in the Uganda Demographic Health Survey which registered whether women had ever been beaten, shook or thrown things at by their partner. Cross tabulation was run which indicated the chi square and P-value which indicated the relationship between each dependent and independent variable and later results were presented. The association between the dependent and independent variables was tested using the chi-square which was set at p<0.05 and the significance between the dependent variable and independent variables was obtained given that the p-value was less than 0.05. Out of the 1635 women that were sampled, 13% had ever experienced activities that were proved to be part of domestic violence. Most of the women who participated in the study had primary as their highest level of education. Over 48% of the women had primary education and about 7% had no education. Only about 2% of the women in the study had health insurance. Poverty was seen as a major factor leading to the prevalence of domestic violence. It was discovered that the number of domestic violence cases reduced with increase in income. In conclusion, it was discovered that beside poverty, other factors influence domestic violence such as education, alcohol consumption, gender equality and many others.