Stay at home measures and their effects on intimate partner violence against women in Tororo district

Abstract

The objective of the study was to examine the effects of stay at home measures on intimate partner violence against women in Western division, Tororo district. The study was guided by different specific objectives that include; to describe the nature and the forms of IPV experienced by the women during stay at home measures, examine the lockdown specific factors that contributed to IPV against women, and assess the actions taken by the women to minimize IPV during the stay at-home measures in Tororo District. The study design was exploratory and utilized a qualitative research methodology. Data was collected using interviews, from 7 women survivors of IPV and 3 key informants (A probation and social welfare officer, Police child and family protection unit personnel/ officers, and LC1).The study findings confirmed that stay-home measures had an effect on the level of IPV against women. The dominant forms of IPV included physical violence, emotional violence, psychosocial violence and sexual violence. This effect was largely linked to Covid-19 lockdown, quarantine and social isolation of families that created tensions between the spouses or partners, job losses and economic pressures. Women mostly faced the fury and anger from their partners who had lost jobs and businesses and were left idle at home with accumulating stressors that resulted into heighted risks of violence between the partners. It should be noted that these stay at home measures aggravated the previously existing factors that resulted into IPV such as poverty, unemployment, and laxity of some authorities. The study revealed that women survivors of IPV would seek help from formal support services, informal support services, help from health professionals, help from leaders, and government role and following the findings, various recommendations such as the need for gender sensitization of communities on gender based violence and its effects especially in situations of health related emergencies; training of Local Defense Units (LDUs) so that they are able to identify cases of IPV and how to handle them so as to put less strain on the police in cases of emerging diseases or pandemics.