INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE AMONG MARRIED WOMEN IN ALIMOSHO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, LAGOS STATE

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is any form of abuse perpetrated against a woman by her current or former husband or male partner. IPV is a major public health problem throughout the world. Forms of IPV are classified into physical, sexual, psychological and economic. These violent acts occur in homes and are directed at women. These acts have devastating effects on the physical, psychological and reproductive health of victims. Few studies have explored the extent to which married women in Nigeria have experienced violent acts by their husbands. The objective of this study was to determine the extent to which married women had experienced physical, sexual, psychological and economic forms of violence perpetrated by their intimate partners. The study was descriptive and cross-sectional. The study had two components - quantitative and qualitative. It was conducted in Alimosho Local Government Area (LGA) of Lagos state. Quantitative data were collected using a pre-tested, semi-structured, interviewer-assisted questionnaire from married women. The questionnaire explored women's demographic characteristics, experience of physical, sexual, psychological and economic forms of violence from spouses, the perceived reasons for these acts, and health seeking behaviours. The respondents were selected through a systematic random technique from all the eight districts of the LGA. In-depth interview was used for qualitative data collection. The interview was used to explore demography, variables of victims, the inception of violence in the home, the last experience and the: health seeking behaviours Of the 704 women contacted, 606 consented to participate in the study (response rate 86%). The ages of the women ranged from 22 -49 years with a mean of 35.9 years. Majority of the respondents were Yorubas 74.6% whose main occupation was trading 51%. One hundred and sixty-one (26.6%) had secondary school education. Five hundred and thirty-nine (88.9%) had experienced at least one form of violence. The prevalence of physical, sexual, psychological and economic forms of violence were 45.9%, 55.9%, 71.1% and 51.2% respectively. The most common forms of violent behaviours experienced by the women were slaps 41.9%, insistence on having sex 33.3%, verbal insults 41.3% and not providing money for the needs of the family 38.4%. Full-time housewives, women without formal education, women in polygamous marriage and those whose husbands drank alcohol were more likely than others to have experienced at least one form of violent behavior. The most common perceived reason for physical, psychological and economic forms of violence were argument about money 37.4%, 32.9%, 27.1% respectively and refusal to have sex 34.2%. The proportion of women who had experienced physical, sexual, psychological and economic forms of violence but did not seek outside help were 59.0%, 62.2%, 67.5% and 74.5% respectively. In conclusion, a high proportion of the women surveyed had suffered from different kinds of violence and only few sought for help. Interventions including providing conflict resolution skills training and referral to appropriate agencies are recommended to address these problems.