Polygyny and intimate partner violence in sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from 16 cross-sectional demographic and health surveys

Ahinkorah, Bright Opoku

doi:10.1016/j.ssmph.2021.100729

Cited by 57 publications

(94 citation statements)

References 37 publications

(42 reference statements)

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“…IPV has been a perennial social injustice that cuts across different populations and socio-cultural contexts [ 2 , 3 ]. Hence, it has gained the attention of researchers in recent times.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a pervasive social injustice and significant public health concern [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. Available evidence suggests that IPV, which refers to any behavior within an intimate relationship that inflicts physical, psychological, and sexual harm [ 4 ], can be regarded as a pandemic, as one in every three women in the world have experienced IPV at some point in their lives [ 5 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Experience of Intimate Partner Violence among Women in Sexual Unions: Is Supportive Attitude of Women towards Intimate Partner Violence a Correlate?

et al. 2021

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Intimate partner violence (IPV) is predominant in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), with nearly 40 percent of women reporting IPV at some point in time. In this study, we investigated whether a supportive attitude towards IPV is associated with past-year experience of IPV among women in sexual unions in SSA. This study involved a cross-sectional analysis of data from the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) of 23 countries in SSA. Bivariate and multivariable binary logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the association between attitude towards IPV and past-year experience of IPV. The regression results were presented in a tabular form using crude odds ratio (cOR) and adjusted odds ratio (aOR) at 95% confidence intervals (CIs). In the pooled countries, we found that women who had supportive attitude towards IPV were more likely to experience IPV compared to those who rejected IPV (cOR = 1.72, 95% CI = 1.64, 1.79), and this persisted after controlling for maternal age, marital status, wealth, maternal education level, place of residence, and mass-media exposure (aOR = 1.72, 95% CI = 1.64, 1.79). The same trend and direction of association between attitude towards IPV and experience of IPV was also found in all the 23 studied countries. This study has demonstrated that women who accept IPV are more likely to experience IPV. Hence, we recommend that efforts to end IPV must focus primarily on changing the attitudes of women. This goal can be achieved by augmenting women’s empowerment, education, and employment interventions, as well as sensitizing women in relation to the deleterious ramifications of accepting IPV. Furthermore, reducing IPV is critical towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 3.

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“…IPV has been a perennial social injustice that cuts across different populations and socio-cultural contexts [ 2 , 3 ]. Hence, it has gained the attention of researchers in recent times.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experience of Intimate Partner Violence among Women in Sexual Unions: Is Supportive Attitude of Women towards Intimate Partner Violence a Correlate?

et al. 2021

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“…Although sub-regional specific data is not readily available, other customarily roles may create additional burden of elder care and care of the sick, relatives and the vulnerable during the pandemic may exacerbate the already household burden for young girls and women compared to men (17). With sub-Saharan Africa noted as one of the regions with the highest prevalence of intimate partner violence globally (18)(19)(20), these household inequalities (i.e., domestic family responsibilities) during the pandemic could create multiple role conflicts that could trigger domestic violence (e.g., physical, sexual and emotional abuse) against women, and create potential lasting mental health consequences in the region (18,19,21).…”

Section: Household Inequitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19 Pandemic Worsening Gender Inequalities for Women and Girls in Sub-Saharan Africa

Ahinkorah

Hagan

Ameyaw

et al. 2021

Front. Glob. Womens Health

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Pandemics such as COVID-19 have often resulted in international, national and sub-regional crises, with considerable inequities across many societies. With the already existing structural and socio-economic inequalities in sub-Saharan Africa, the stay-at-home orders, lockdowns, and shutdowns across the sub-regional states could worsen and have a tremendous impact on vulnerable groups. Numerous studies across a variety of contexts have well-documented gender, and cultures on varied health outcomes. However, these have not been contextualized in sub-Saharan Africa in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic. This mini review discusses the ways by which COVID-19 has impacted the lives of girls and women across sub-Saharan Africa and the strategies that can help mitigate these challenges. The mini review specifically shares light on a wide array of dimensions where the inequities exist. These include the disproportionate areas affected by COVID-19; household inequities; educational inequalities; work/employment inequalities; disparities related to healthcare, sexual and reproductive health as well as housing inequities. Conclusively, the review accentuates the need for sub-Saharan African countries to adopt low-cost preventive measures such as discouraging mass gatherings (e.g., local community gatherings), and face masking with non-medical cloth like masks for the local populace as these are crucial in managing the spread of the virus among disproportionate women population. For localities with limited access to handwashing facilities, alternative strategies like alcohol-based hand rub solutions could be deployed. The complex interrelated disparities require a broad set of policy actions to lessen the current burden faced by many women in sub-Saharan Africa.

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“…These variables included age, region, religion, place of residence, highest educational level, literacy, marital status, residing with a partner, number of partner's wives, partner's age, partner's education, health insurance cover, internet access, mobile phone ownership, watch television, listen to the radio, read newspaper/magazine, occupation and wealth index. The selection of these variables was informed by their statistically signi cant associations with physical violence in previous studies [32,33]. (See Table 2 for the details on the coding of the covariates).…”

Section: Covariatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Persistent Association Between Exposure to Intimate Partner Physical Violence and Current Cigarette Smoking Among Women in Papua New Guinea: A Modified Poisson Regression Analysis

Peprah¹,

Asare²,

Agyemang-Duah³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Background: Intimate partner physical violence (IPPV) is a preventable public health threat associated with health deteriorating lifestyles such as cigarette smoking. However, limited research has focused on the association between IPPV and cigarette smoking among women in unions in low-and middle-income countries like Papua New Guinea (PNG). The aim of this study was to examine the association between IPPV and current cigarette smoking using a nationally representative sample. Methods: We utilized 2016-2018 PNG Demographic and Health Survey data of 9,943 women aged 15-49 years who were in intimate unions. We estimated the direct risk of smoking cigarette using modified Poisson regression models with a robust variance relative risk and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of cigarette smoking. Results: Among the total participants, the prevalence of IPPV was 52.4% and smoking cigarette in the last 24 hours was 25.1%. The modified Poisson regression results indicated a robust and persistent association between IPPV and cigarette smoking among women in unions both in the absence and presence of covariates. The risk of smoking cigarette was significantly elevated among those who reported a history of IPPV relative to their counterparts with no physical violence history (IRR: 1.35, 95%CI: 1.20-1.52) in the absence of covariates. After controlling for demographic, social and economic variables, the association between IPPV and cigarette smoking persisted (IRR: 1.24, 95%CI: 1.08-1.41). Conclusions: The present study provides strong evidence to indicate a robust and persistent association between IPPV and current cigarette smoking among women in unions. Interventions aimed at addressing IPPV among women in unions in PNG to reduce the increased risk of cigarette smoking are needed.

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Polygyny and intimate partner violence in sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from 16 cross-sectional demographic and health surveys

Cited by 57 publications

References 37 publications

Experience of Intimate Partner Violence among Women in Sexual Unions: Is Supportive Attitude of Women towards Intimate Partner Violence a Correlate?

Experience of Intimate Partner Violence among Women in Sexual Unions: Is Supportive Attitude of Women towards Intimate Partner Violence a Correlate?

COVID-19 Pandemic Worsening Gender Inequalities for Women and Girls in Sub-Saharan Africa

The Persistent Association Between Exposure to Intimate Partner Physical Violence and Current Cigarette Smoking Among Women in Papua New Guinea: A Modified Poisson Regression Analysis

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