Prevention and Mitigation of Intimate-Partner Violence: The Role of Community Leaders in Tanzania

Simmons, Elizabeth; Halim, Nafisa; Servidone, Maria; Steven, Ester; Reich, Naomi; Badi, Lilian; Holmes, Nelson; Kawemama, Philbert; Messersmith, Lisa J.

doi:10.1177/1077801219832923

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 24 publications

(33 reference statements)

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“…Overall, it appears that IPV may be motivated when hegemonic masculinity is perceived to be threatened, particularly by relative increases in women's status. Existing programs, such as the Mwanza Intervention Trial Unit's "MAISHA" intervention (Kapiga et al, 2019), and applied research at the community level (see Simmons et al, 2020), show promising strategies for addressing IPV in the Mwanza region and beyond, via participatory gender training for women and their spouses accompanied by microfinance initiatives. Insights from our study can aid these programs in better predicting and preventing IPV through expanding conceptualizations of SES to include relative measures as well as demographic and social determinants of status and women's empowerment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Positive Correlation Between Women’s Status and Intimate Partner Violence Suggests Violence Backlash in Mwanza, Tanzania

Kilgallen

Schaffnit

Kumogola

et al. 2021

J Interpers Violence

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Urbanization in low and middle-income nations is characterized by economic and demographic shifts largely understood to be beneficial to women’s empowerment. These changes include increased education and wage-labor opportunities, a disruption of traditional patrilocal residence systems, and reductions in spousal age gap and fertility. However, such changes may drive a “violence backlash,” with men increasing intimate partner violence (IPV) in efforts to challenge women’s shifting status. To date, tests of this idea primarily relate to women’s changing economic status, with less known about the demographic correlates of IPV in urbanizing settings. Addressing this, we conducted a cross-sectional study of IPV behavior and attitudes in an urbanizing community in Mwanza, northern Tanzania ( n = 317). Consistent with a violence backlash, IPV was reported more often among women educated at higher levels than their husband, and women earning similar, rather than lower, wages to their husband were more likely to report that he condones IPV. These findings were independent of women’s absolute education and income. Furthermore, less frequent paternal kin contact, and relatively small spousal age gaps, generally understood to boost women’s empowerment, were associated with an increased risk of experiencing IPV. Less frequent paternal kin contact was also associated with an increased likelihood that a husband condones IPV. Contrary to our predictions, relatively lower fertility, generally linked to higher women’s empowerment, did not predict IPV behavior and women with high, rather than low, fertility were more likely to report that their husband condones IPV. Overall, our results support the notion of a violence backlash corresponding to economic changes for women that accompany urbanization. In contrast, demographic changes associated with urbanization have more variable relationships. Drawing on these results, we suggest future research avenues for better understanding the vulnerability of women to IPV in urbanizing settings.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Positive Correlation Between Women’s Status and Intimate Partner Violence Suggests Violence Backlash in Mwanza, Tanzania

Kilgallen

Schaffnit

Kumogola

et al. 2021

J Interpers Violence

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“…Consequently, health insurance coverage has remained the lowest among low-income groups, and women in particular (Kapologwe et al 2017 Crucially, from 2011 onwards, the government has also implemented an improved CHF ('iliyoboreshwa CHF' or iCHF/iTIKA), with a significantly improved and portable benefits package including outpatient and inpatient care with surgery, medicines, and ultrasound, among other elements. Access to a broader range of benefits is particularly important to women due to their higher reproductive health needs and significant exposure to malnutrition and anaemia, 14 as well as inter-partner violence in the Tanzanian context (Kapiga et al 2017;Simmons et al 2020).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring social policy trajectories in Mainland Tanzania: Driving for gender-inclusive development?

Lambin¹,

Nyyssölä²

2022

WIDER Working Paper

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“…Patriarchal socially shaped norms and values such as gender roles and expectations have also been reported to prevent women from seeking help for IPV. This is mainly because IPV is seen as a social norm and accepted within some African communities [ 15 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ending violence against women: Help-seeking behaviour of women exposed to intimate partner violence in sub-Saharan Africa

Aboagye,

Seidu,

Cadri

et al. 2023

PLoS ONE

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Introduction Intimate partner violence is a serious public health problem that transcends cultural boundaries in sub-Saharan Africa. Studies have reported that violence characteristics and perception are strong predictors of help-seeking among women. We assessed the prevalence and factors associated with help-seeking among female survivors of intimate partner violence in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods We pooled data from the most recent Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) of eighteen sub-Saharan African countries. The data were extracted from the women’s files in countries with datasets from 2014 to 2021. A weighted sample of 33,837 women in sexual relationships: married or cohabiting who had ever experienced intimate partner violence within the five years preceding the survey were included in the analysis. Percentages with 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to present the results of the prevalence of help-seeking for intimate partner violence. We used a multilevel binary logistic regression analysis to examine the factors associated with help-seeking among survivors of intimate partner violence. The results were presented using adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with their respective 95% CI. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Results Out of the 33,837 women who had ever experienced intimate partner violence in sub-Saharan Africa, only 38.77% (95% CI = 38.26–39.28) of them sought help. Ethiopia had the lowest prevalence of women who sought help after experiencing intimate partner violence (19.75%; 95% CI = 17.58–21.92) and Tanzania had the highest prevalence (57.56%; 95% CI = 55.86–59.26). Marital status, educational level, current working status, parity, exposure to interparental violence, women’s autonomy in household decision-making, mass media exposure, intimate partner violence justification, wealth index, and place of residence were associated with help-seeking behaviour of intimate partner violence survivors. Conclusion The low prevalence of help seeking among women who have experienced intimate partner violence in sub-Saharan Africa calls for the intensification of formal and informal sources of assistance. Education can play a critical role in empowering girls, which may increase future help-seeking rates. Through media efforts aimed at parental awareness, the long-term benefits of females enrolling in school could be achieved. However, concentrating solely on individual measures to strengthen women’s empowerment may not bring a significant rise in help-seeking as far as patriarchal attitudes that permit violence continue to exist. Consequently, it is critical to address intimate partner violence from the dimensions of both the individual and violence-related norms and attitudes. Based on the findings, there should be public awareness creation on the consequences of intimate partner violence. Respective governments must increase their coverage of formal support services to intimate partner violence survivors especially those in rural communities.

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Prevention and Mitigation of Intimate-Partner Violence: The Role of Community Leaders in Tanzania

Cited by 6 publications

References 24 publications

Positive Correlation Between Women’s Status and Intimate Partner Violence Suggests Violence Backlash in Mwanza, Tanzania

Positive Correlation Between Women’s Status and Intimate Partner Violence Suggests Violence Backlash in Mwanza, Tanzania

Exploring social policy trajectories in Mainland Tanzania: Driving for gender-inclusive development?

Ending violence against women: Help-seeking behaviour of women exposed to intimate partner violence in sub-Saharan Africa

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