Spousal violence in sub-Saharan Africa: does household poverty-wealth matter?

Reproductive Health Spousal violence in sub-Saharan Africa: does household poverty-wealth matter? Samson Olusina Bamiwuye 0 1 Clifford Odimegwu 2 0 Visiting Scholar, University of the Witwatersrand , Johannesburg , South Africa 1 Obafemi Awolowo University , Ile-Ife , Nigeria 2 Demography and Population Studies (DPS), University of the Witwatersrand , Johannesburg , South Africa Introduction: Despite the threat of violence to the health and rights of women yet, for many years, there has been a dearth of nationally comparable data on domestic violence in sub-Saharan Africa. This paper examines whether women from poor households are more likely to experience violence from husband/partner than other women who are from middle or rich households. Method: Data for the study are derived from most recent DHS surveys of ever-married women age 15-49 in Cameroun(3,691), Kenya(4,336), Mozambique(5610), Nigeria (16,763), Zambia(3,010) and Zimbabwe(5,016) who participated in the questions on Domestic Violence Module. Bivariate analysis and Binary Logistic Regression Analysis are used to explore the linkage between household poverty-wealth and spousal violence while simultaneously controlling for confounding variables. Results: The overall prevalence of any form of violence (physical, sexual or emotional) ranges from 30.5% in Nigeria to 43.4% in Zimbabwe; 45.3% in Kenya; 45.5% in Mozambique; 53.9% in Zambia and 57.6% in Cameroun. Both bivariate and multivariate analyses show that in two of the six countries -Zambia and Mozambique, experience of violence is significantly higher among women from non-poor (rich) households than those from other households (poor and middle). For Zimbabwe and Kenya, women from poor households are more likely to have ever experienced spousal violence than those from non-poor households. In the remaining two countries- Nigeria and Cameroun, women from the middle class are more likely to have ever suffered abuse from husband/partner than those from the poor and rich households. Conclusion: Our results thus show that similar measurements of household poverty-wealth have produced varying relationships with respect to experience of spousal violence in six sub-Saharan African countries. In other words, experience of violence cuts across all household poverty-wealth statuses and therefore may not provide enough explanations on whether household-poverty necessarily serves to facilitate the ending of violence. These results suggest that eliminating violence against women in sub-Sahara Africa requires a comprehensive approach rather than addressing household poverty-wealth alone. Spousal violence; Sub-Sahara Africa; Household; Poverty-wealth; Domestic violence - Background The United Nations General Assemblys 1993 Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women broadly defined women violence as any act of gender-based violence that results in or is likely to result in physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty whether occurring in public or private life [1]. Gender-Based Violence (GBV) have become a global issue that cuts across regional, social and cultural boundaries [2-6]. GBV not only poses a direct threat to womens health, but also has adverse consequences for other aspects of womens health and wellbeing and for the survival and wellbeing of children [1]. Home is supposed to be a secure environment, yet in many societies in sub-Saharan Africa, many women experience violence in diverse forms physical, emotional psychological and sexual [7]. Much of this violence is perpetrated by womens husbands or close partners [8]). Globally, research has shown that between 15 and 71 per cent of ever partnered women have been physically or sexually assaulted by an intimate partner at some time in their lives [9]. Across sub-Sahara Africa, reports of prevalence and incidence of GBV have been reported [10]. In Zambia, the problem of violence against women is worrisome and GBV is considered not an isolated problem or a side component of peoples life, but a widespread, tragic and daily issue that touches and impacts every Zambian in one way or the other [11]. In Zimbabwe, domestic violence has been described as a sensitive, harrowing community issue that affects 1 in 3 women with many women still finding themselves in a position where they are vulnerable to all forms of violence despite legislation to prevent domestic violence [12]. At least, 60% of the murder cases brought before the Zimbabwe High Court are a direct result of domestic violence [13]. Studies have also linked violence against women with negative child outcomes in Zimbabwe [12]. In Nigeria, the largest country in Africa, several studies have reported high prevalence of violence against women especially from spouse or intimate partner [5,6,14,15]. Despite the fact that violence against women in all forms has been acknowledged internationally as a threat not only to the health and rights of women but also to national development, yet, for many years, there has been a dearth of nationally comparable data such as the one from Demographic and Health Surveys on domestic violence [16]. Earlier research on domestic violence in the developing world contributed to a deeper awareness of the problem and since has been provoking research globally [2,17]. Different patterns of relationship between sociodemographic factors like age, education, age at marriage and spousal violence have been reported in the literature [8,18,19]. For example, while education is a protective factor in Bolivia, Kenya and Zimbabwe, it is a risk factor in Haiti [8]. While a study among pregnant women found a strong association between education and intimate partner violence [18], studies conducted in eight Southern African countries) show that high rates of domestic physical violence in all eight countries were conspicuously independent of education [19]. Studies have also indicated that younger women are more likely to be abused by partner/spouse than the older women [20] but women who marry young in Ghana and Uganda have higher rates of experience of spousal violence than those who marry at age 25 or older [21]. While there is no variation by residence in Ghana with womens experience of violence, Ugandan women who live in rural areas have much higher rates of violence than those who live in urban areas [21]. Other factors that are often and consistently associated with spousal violence are partners alcohol use [1,18]; acceptance of wife beating as justified by men and women [22,23] and history of respondents father beating her mother [1,23,24]. Widespread acceptance of wife beating as justified is found to be consistent with a high prevalence of violence [23]. Literature on association between poverty-wealth and spousal violence is relatively scanty especially in sub-Sahara Africa. The few available studies have focused on countries (...truncated)