Prevalence and predictors of intimate partner violence among ever-partnered women in South Africa

Abstract

Background: The main objective of this study is to determine the socio-demographic factors related to intimate partner violence among ever-partnered women in South Africa. Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a global social problem and affects both men and women, although women experience intimate partner violence more than men. Therefore, in this study, this intimate partner violence operationally includes women who experienced any of the following types of violence: emotional, sexual, and physical. Methods: This study used secondary data from the South Africa Demographic and Health Survey (SADHS) of 2016. The following analyses were conducted, the univariate analysis, which includes frequencies, as well as the bivariate analysis. The bivariate analysis included a chi-square test to test the association between the selected independent variables and the dependent variable. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to measure the relationship between the selected factors and the outcome variable. Results: The findings show that age, marital status, woman’s education, employment and earning status, household wealth status, household composition, partner’s drinking habits, fear of partner, history of violence, woman age difference, woman education difference, number of decisions in which woman participates, number of reasons beating is justified, and province were statistically associated with intimate partner violence. Women aged 30-39 had a high prevalence as compared to other age groups (27.6%), moreover, coloured women had a high prevalence of IPV as compared to other population groups (31.9%) and women who were afraid of their partners most of the time had a higher prevalence (74.2%). Women who had at least five reasons for justification of wife-beating were 10.74 times more likely to experience IPV as compared to those who had no justification of wife-beating. Odds ratios of reporting IPV were significantly lowering among those in average household 0.72 as compared to poor households, those who were mostly afraid of their partners 0.35 and those residing in rural areas 0.76 as compared to urban areas. Conclusion: Several strategies could play a role in reducing intimate partner violence among ever-partnered women in South Africa. These strategies could include (a) programs targeting uneducated women by enhancing their skills and encouraging them to finish basic education since these women are more at risk of experiencing IPV, (b) empowering women through creating job opportunities, especially those coming from poor households, (c) taking partners who drink excessive alcohol to rehabilitation centres since they are the perpetrators of IPV.