Magnitude and Immediate Outcomes of Physical Partner Violence against Women in Kofele District, Arsi Zone, Oromia Region
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Date
2004-05
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Addis Abeba University
Abstract
Abuse by an intimate partner (marital or spousal abuse) and coercion are the two most globally
prevalent forms of violence against women. However community based studies on this subject is
limited. In Ethiopia there is also little research work in the area of physical partner violence. The
objective of this study is to measure the magnitude of physical violence experienced by married
women; men own use of physical violence, factors associated with experience of physical
violence, its immediate outcomes and describe cultural and societal perspectives of partner
violence. Community based cross sectional survey was conducted with complementary Focus
Group Discussions in Kofele district, Arsi zone, Oromia region. Households were selected with
systematic random sampling from randomly selected Peasant associations. Married adult men
age 15 years and above & women aged 15-49 years, living in the households sampled were
included in the study. A field-tested, structured and pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect
the information for the quantitative study and semi-structured guideline was used for focus group
discussions. A total of 400 men and 396 women participated in the study. The majority of the
study participants (99.75 % of men and 94.7% of women) belong to Oromo ethnic group. About
64% and 55% of women had experienced physical violence in their life time and last 12months
before survey respectively and 59% and 22% of men reported to use physical violence against
their most recent partners in lifetime and last year respectively. Women's experience of partner
physical violence is associated with presence of other person in the household (OR &
95%CI=0.6(0.39, 0.92), family history of violence( OR & 95% CI= 1.54( 1.01, 2.35), type of
marital arrangement with current partner by abduction (OR & 95%CI= 3.96(1.58, 9.96)
compared with those married with their agreement), number of children less than five years age
in the house hold (OR & 95%CI=3.6 (1.9, 7.0) for only one child & 1.89(1.1, 3.8) for three or
more children relative to no child in household), parity of women(OR & 95%CI=2.5(1.4, 4.7)
for 4-7 births relative to 0-3 births) and belief about whether battering woman who failed to
complete her household works is acceptable (OR & 95%CI=2.0 (1.1, 3.5) for agreeing with the
situation ). Physical partner violence is very high in the study area and is associated with
avoidable factors. There are also important cultural practices useful in protecting women from
violence in this study population. This calls for immediate interventions that include education
on gender roles, family relations and improving women’s reproductive health and supporting
structures for cases of violence and encouraging and maintaining supporting useful cultural
practices. (Key words: Abuse, Partner, Physical Violence, Culture )
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Keywords
Abuse, Partner, Physical Violence, Culture