Factors associated with intimate partner violence against women: case study of Northern Uganda

Abstract

This current study aimed at examining the factors associated with IPV against women in Northern Uganda using the 2016 UDHS data set collected by UBOS. Data was filtered to obtain the actual sample size for analysis and drawing conclusions. Analysis was done at two levels that is univriate analysis which included frequency distribution tables for the back-ground characteristics and bivariate analysis which included the measure of association using the Pearson’s chi-square test. Findings of the study indicated that 70.91% of the respondents did experience severe violence from their partner and 29.09% experienced severe violence from their partner. Among those who were victims of IPV, 87.74% resided in rural areas of Northern Uganda and had acquired lower levels of education. Of the women who experienced violence from their spouse, the majority were poor (78.87%), 60% of their partner consumed alcohol and those with 0-5 six children (69.52%) compared to their counterparts. The current results contradicted with most of the previous studies on the variable of age as women in the age group of 40-49 years experienced more violence compared to other age group. Therefore, the researcher recommends strict laws on alcohol consumption should be set in order to reduce its intake by partners, strengthening economic supports for families and creation of protective environments for both gender in the society.