Assessing the consequences of domestic violence against women in Uganda. A case of Bwaise, Kampala Uganda

Abstract

The study sought to assess the consequences of domestic violence against women in Uganda. It looks at the causes of Domestic Violence against women, the role of culture, the reasons why women keep silent when affected by violence, the consequences and the strategies to address the consequences of violence against women; particularly the Case of Domestic Violence against women in Bwaise Kampala District. The study aimed at achieving the following objective; investigating the causes of domestic violence against women in Bwaise., examining the consequences of domestic violence against women, identifying strategies for addressing Domestic Violence against women in Bwaise. The study adopted qualitative approach and a case study design to obtain the needed data. It used interviews and questionnaires to obtain data from 40 respondents comprising married women, men (including widowed, divorced) and Government officials (CDO, Probation officer, police officers, local leaders) who were all selected using purposive and simple random sampling techniques to provide adequate and relevant information for the study. The findings showed that poor anger management, tendency to dominate the relationships, poverty, communication problems, and feelings of powerlessness, sexual abuse and stress as some causes of violence against women in families. A female victim is often reluctant to report a case of violence due to socio-cultural stereotypes, stigma, fear for loss of families and cultural norms hence keep in silence. The findings of the study identified some of the ways to address domestic violence against women are; to prevent it from happening by encouraging male participation in the fight against domestic violence, need to provide the organizations, communities, and individuals with the knowledge and resources required for mobilizing communities to prevent violence in the community. The study concluded that stakeholders in the sub-county should embark on developing, promoting and strengthening domestic violence monitoring systems and laws so that solutions can be sought immediately and long term survival of such cases are systematically addressed.