Women’s Status and Intimate Partner Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract

Women's greatest risk of violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) may come from an intimate partner, but few studies have analyzed context-specific risk and protective factors for intimate partner violence (IPV) in the DRC. This study analyzed data from the most recent Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) in Congo to assess risk and protective factors for IPV and the role of women's status, a factor implicated in prior IPV research. Using a sample of 1,821 married or cohabiting women between the ages of 15 and 49, four logistic regression models tested relationships between physical, sexual, emotional, or any violence and independent variables of interest. Results indicated that 68.2% of respondents had experienced at least one of the three types of IPV. An attitude of acceptance toward spousal violence was associated with increased risk for physical and emotional IPV. Women who were the only wife of their husband were half as likely to experience IPV compared with women whose husbands had other wives or women who did not know their husbands' marital status. Partner's use of alcohol was associated with nearly doubled risk for both physical and sexual IPV. The study's results indicate that IPV occurs frequently and is justified as acceptable by many women in the DRC. Findings suggest that awareness-raising campaigns may be a helpful intervention and that partner characteristics should be considered when assessing women's risk for IPV.

Alcohol use and intimate partner violence among women and their partners in Sub-Saharan Africa

“…Severe forms of physical violence included being kicked, dragged, beat up, choked, burned, or threatened/attacked with a weapon. These items were based off of a modified version of the Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS) (Straus, 1990), which have been used to measure IPV in several studies in SSA (Babalola et al 2014;Tlapek, 2014). The modified version of the CTS used in the Domestic Violence Module was developed to address criticisms of the CTS by including questions about sexual violence, not assuming that IPV only occurs during periods of spousal conflict, and not weighing results such that physical injury counted as more severe than other forms of IPV (Kishor & Johnson, 2006).…”

Correlates of intimate partner violence among urban women in sub-Saharan Africa

“…The proportion of urban women in SSA who report IPV is significantly high in conflict and post-conflict states such as DRC, Uganda, and Sierra Leone. Conflict and post-conflict situations increase women's risk for violence within and outside unions [47,[51][52][53][54][55]. Social protection mechanisms deteriorate at multiple levels during conflicts, intensifying the conditions and circumstances that expose women to risks for violence [40,56].…”

Family and community driven response to intimate partner violence in post-conflict settings

“…In DRC, microsystem risk factors for female experience of IPV include having a male partner that drinks alcohol and being in a polygamous relationship (Tlapek, 2014). In Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, a post-conflict area in eastern DRC, male perpetration of IPV is associated with childhood experience of IPV, binge drinking and increased age (Slegh, Barker, & Levtov, 2014).…”

“…Heise et al, 2002; Koenig et al, 2003). In DRC, female acceptance of male use of violence is associated with increased risk for IPV (Tlapek, 2014). …”