Explore the vast range of titles available.

Ordinary social violence, - recurrent mental or physical aggression occurring between closely related people - structures social relationships. This book presents anthropological case studies from different parts of Africa to show how this 'hidden' violence is essential to understand social change.

This paper examines men's lifetime physical intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration across eight low- and middle-income countries to better understand key risk factors that interventions can target in order to promote gender equality and reduce IPV. We use data from men (n = 7806) that were collected as part of the International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Chile, Croatia, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), India, Mexico, and Rwanda. Results show that there is wide variation across countries for lifetime self-reported physical violence perpetration (range: 17% in Mexico to 45% in DRC), men's support for equal roles for men and women, and acceptability of violence against women. Across the sample, 31% of men report having perpetrated physical violence against a partner in their lifetime. In multivariate analyses examining risk factors for men ever perpetrating physical violence against a partner, witnessing parental violence was the strongest risk factor, reinforcing previous research suggesting the inter-generational transmission of violence. Additionally, having been involved in fights not specifically with an intimate partner, permissive attitudes towards violence against women, having inequitable gender attitudes, and older age were associated with a higher likelihood of ever perpetrating physical IPV. In separate analyses for each country, we found different patterns of risk factors in countries with high perpetration compared to countries with low perpetration. Findings are interpreted to identify key knowledge gaps and directions for future research, public policies, evaluation, and programming.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is very high in Africa. However, information obtained from the increasing number of African studies on IPV among pregnant women has not been scientifically analyzed. This paper presents a systematic review summing up the evidence from African studies on IPV prevalence and risk factors among pregnant women. A key-word defined search of various electronic databases, specific journals and reference lists on IPV prevalence and risk factors during pregnancy resulted in 19 peer-reviewed journal articles which matched our inclusion criteria. Quantitative articles about pregnant women from Africa published in English between 2000 and 2010 were reviewed. At least two reviewers assessed each paper for quality and content. We conducted meta-analysis of prevalence data and reported odds ratios of risk factors. The prevalence of IPV during pregnancy ranges from 2% to 57% (n = 13 studies) with meta-analysis yielding an overall prevalence of 15.23% (95% CI: 14.38 to 16.08%). After adjustment for known confounders, five studies retained significant associations between HIV and IPV during pregnancy (OR1.48-3.10). Five studies demonstrated strong evidence that a history of violence is significantly associated with IPV in pregnancy and alcohol abuse by a partner also increases a woman's chances of being abused during pregnancy (OR 2.89-11.60). Other risk factors include risky sexual behaviours, low socioeconomic status and young age. The prevalence of IPV among pregnant women in Africa is one of the highest reported globally. The major risk factors included HIV infection, history of violence and alcohol and drug use. This evidence points to the importance of further research to both better understand IPV during pregnancy and feed into interventions in reproductive health services to prevent and minimize the impact of such violence.

Childhood sexual and physical abuse have been linked to adolescent and adult risky sexual behaviors, including early sexual debut, an increased number of sexual partners, unprotected sex, alcohol and drug use during sex and sexual violence. This paper explores these relationships among both men and women who report histories of childhood abuse from representative samples of communities in three countries in southern and eastern Africa (South Africa, Zimbabwe and Tanzania). Data were collected as part of a 3-year randomized community trial to rapidly increase knowledge of HIV status and to promote community responses through mobilisation, mobile testing, provision of same-day HIV test results and post-test support for HIV. The results indicate that reported childhood sexual and physical abuse is high in all three settings, also among men, and shows strong relationships with a range of sexual risk behaviors, including age at first sex (OR −0.6 (CI: −0.9, −0.4, p  < 0.003)—among men, OR −0.7 (CI: −0.9, −0.5, p  < 0.001)—among women), alcohol (OR 1.43 (CI: 1.22, 1.68, p  < 0.001)—men, OR 1.83 (CI: 1.50, 2.24, p  < 0.001)—women) and drug use (OR 1.65 (CI: 1.38, 1.97, p  < 0.001)—men, OR 3.14 (CI: 1.95, 5.05, p  < 0.001)—women) and two forms of partner violence—recent forced sex (OR 2.22 (CI: 1.66, 2.95, p  < 0.001)—men, OR 2.76 (CI: 2.09, 3.64, p  < 0.001)—women) and ever being hurt by a partner (OR 3.88 (CI: 2.84, 5.29, p  < 0.001)—men, OR 3.06 (CI: 2.48, 3.76, p  < 0.001)—women). Individuals abused in childhood comprise between 6 and 29 % of young adult men and women living in these African settings and constitute a population at high risk of HIV infection.

Background There remains a dearth of comprehensive understanding of the fundamental origins of intimate partner violence within the context of marital structure. This study examines the association between polygyny and justification of violence among women in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods We used up-to-date data from the Demographic and Health Surveys of twenty-one sub-Saharan African countries. A multilevel binary mixed-effect regression analysis was used to examine the association between polygyny status and justification of violence, controlling for potential covariates. The results were presented utilising adjusted odds ratios (aOR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results Women whose husbands/partners had other wives (co-wives) (aOR = 1.35; 95% CI 1.30, 1.40) had higher odds of justifying wife beating if wife goes out without telling compared to those whose husbands/partners had no co-wives. Similar results were obtained concerning the association between polygyny and justification of wife beating if wife burns food (aOR = 1.31; 95% CI 1.25, 1.36), neglects children (aOR = 1.31; 95% CI 1.27, 1.36), argues with the husband (aOR = 1.37; 95% CI 1.32, 1.43), and refuses to have sex with her husband (aOR = 1.30; 95% CI 1.25, 1.35). Conclusions The endorsement of violence against women within relationships, irrespective of the rationale, undermines worldwide and national endeavours aimed at tackling the issue of intimate partner violence and its associated repercussions. It is imperative to implement diverse approaches to effectively tackle the situation. Increased education and awareness campaigns focused on intimate partner violence are expected to play significant roles in effectively tackling this issue. Implementing punitive measures against individuals who perpetrate intimate partner violence upon their partners could also be adopted.

Based on pioneering research on the history of homosexualities in Africa and current lgbti activism, Marc Epprecht provides a sympathetic overview of the issues at play, and a hopeful outlook on the potential of sexual rights for all.

A systematic review and meta-analysis were employed to address the associated factors of gender-based violence (GBV) in sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines were followed. Ovid Medline, CINAHL, Cochrane Central, Embase, Scopus and Web of Science were used to source articles with stringent eligibility criteria. A total of 4931 studies were found and 50 studies met the inclusion criteria. Pooled meta-analyses revealed that low educational attainment, higher alcohol consumption, substance use, history of child and family abuse, limited decision-making skills, experiencing depression, males having multiple sexual partners, and younger age were found to be individual- and family-associated factors that increase the experiences of GBV. Community tolerant attitudes to violence, women’s unemployment, being Muslim, lower socioeconomic class, food and social insecurity were found to be community- and societal-associated factors of GBV. Alcohol consumption, low educational attainment, experiencing depression, being younger, a history of child and family abuse, tolerant attitudes to violence, and low socioeconomic status were poignant factors associated with GBV amongst women in SSA countries. The need to develop a multipronged approach of intervention is a top priority in SSA to reach the Sustainable Development Goals’ (SDGs) target of 2030 to eliminate all forms of violence. Socio-behavioural change communication interventions at individual and community levels need to be introduced, and interventions need to address the prevention of child and family abuse and increase women’s feelings of empowerment in order to prevent GBV in SSA.

“All too often in conflict situations, rape is referred to as a ‘weapon of war’, a term presented as self-explanatory through its implied storyline of gender and warring. In this provocative but much-needed book, Eriksson Baaz and Stern challenge the dominant understandings of sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict settings. Reading with and against feminist analyses of the interconnections between gender, warring, violence and militarization, the authors address many of the thorny issues inherent in the arrival of sexual violence on the global security agenda. Based on original fieldwork in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as research material from other conflict zones, Sexual Violence as a Weapon of War? challenges the recent prominence given to sexual violence, bravely highlighting various problems with isolating sexual violence from other violence in war. A much-anticipated book by two acknowledged experts in the field, on an issue that has become an increasingly important security, legal and gender topic.”

Abstract Disrespect and abuse during childbirth are violations of women’s human rights and an indicator of poor-quality care. Disrespect and abuse during childbirth are widespread, yet data on providers’ perspectives on the topic are limited. We examined providers’ perspectives on the frequency and drivers of disrespect and abuse during facility-based childbirth in a rural county in Kenya. We used data from a mixed-methods study in a rural county in Western Kenya with 49 maternity providers (32 clinical and 17 non-clinical) in 2016. Providers were asked structured questions on disrespect and abuse, followed by open-ended questions on why certain behaviours were exhibited (or not). Most providers reported that women were often treated with dignity and respect. However, 53% of providers reported ever observing other providers verbally abuse women and 45% reported doing so themselves. Observation of physical abuse was reported by 37% of providers while 35% reported doing so themselves. Drivers of disrespect and abuse included perceptions of women being difficult, stress and burnout, facility culture and lack of accountability, poor facility infrastructure and lack of medicines and supplies, and provider attitudes. Provider bias, training and women’s empowerment influenced how different women were treated. We conclude that disrespect and abuse are driven by difficult situations in a health system coupled with a facilitating sociocultural environment. Providers resorted to disrespect and abuse as a means of gaining compliance when they were stressed and feeling helpless. Interventions to address disrespect and abuse need to tackle the multiplicity of contributing factors. These should include empowering providers to deal with difficult situations, develop positive coping mechanisms for stress and address their biases. We also need to change the culture in facilities and strengthen the health systems to address the system-level stressors.

Background South African women experience high rates of abuse and cardiometabolic diseases, but research on their relationship is less investigated. This study examined the associations of exposure to abuse in childhood and adulthood with cardiometabolic risk factors [body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), total cholesterol (TC), HbA1c] over three years among women aged 18–40 years. Methods The longitudinal Rape Impact Cohort Evaluation (RICE) study, conducted between 2014 and 2019, examined the associations of self-reported exposures to childhood abuse (CA) (any, sexual, physical, emotional CA and parental neglect < 18 years of age), lifetime intimate partner violence (IPV) (any, sexual, physical, emotional and economic IPV) and lifetime non-partner rape with cardiometabolic outcomes. These were explored using linear mixed-effects models, with the inclusion of the interaction terms, (1) ‘abuse/trauma*rape-exposed’; (2) ‘abuse/trauma*baseline-rape exposure*time’ to account for potential effects of baseline rape-exposure or time. Results Cardiometabolic data were collected at baseline ( N  = 1617; mean age 25.3 years), 12 ( N  = 1178), 24 ( N  = 925) and 36 months ( N  = 571). Exposures to any CA (β = 0.79; se = 0.27; p  = 0.003), physical CA (β = 0.68; se = 0.27; p  = 0.013) and greater frequency of physical CA (β = 0.73; se = 0.36; p  = 0.042) were associated with rising BMI over 3 years of follow-up. There was no evidence of significant effects between baseline-rape exposure or time and most CA types in the associations examined ( p  > 0.05 for all interaction tests). An exception was found for sexual CA, where baseline-rape exposure influenced its association with WC ( p  = 0.010 for the interaction test). Time also affected the associations of emotional CA with both WC and BMI (ps ≤ 0.039 for the interaction tests). Exposures to IPV or lifetime non-partner rape were not significantly associated with increased changes in any cardiometabolic variables investigated, and no effects of baseline rape-exposure or time. Conclusions This prospective analysis demonstrated that childhood abuse experiences were associated with increased BMI levels over 3 years of follow-up in young South African women. Further research over a longer period is required to clearly delineate the effect of abuse exposure on cardiometabolic diseases.