Journal Article

Prevalence and determinants of intimate partner violence against mothers of children under-five years in Central Malawi

Chilanga, Emmanuel, Riley, Liam, Khan, Mohammad Nuruzzaman, Collin-Vezina, Delphine

2020

Overview

Background Intimate partner violence (IPV) against women is a global human rights violation and a public health problem. The phenomenon is linked to adverse health effects for women and children. Mothers of young children in Malawi can be particularly at risk because of gender-based power imbalances. The objectives of this study were to examine the prevalence and the risk factors of IPV against mothers of children under-five years of age in rural Malawi. Methods A multistage, cross-sectional study design was used. A sample of 538 mothers of young children was randomly selected from postnatal clinics in Dowa district. The WHO’s Violence against women screening instrument was used to collect data. Logistic regressions were used to determine risk factors that were associated with IPV against mothers. Results Overall prevalence of all four forms of IPV against mothers of under-five children was 60.2%. The prevalence of IPV controlling behavior, psychological, physical, and sexual violence were 74.7, 49.4, 43.7 and 73.2% respectively. In multivariate analyses, mothers whose partners had extra marital affairs were more likely to experience controlling behavior (AOR: 4.97, 95% CI: 2.59–8.55, P  = 0.001), psychological (AOR: 2.14, 95% CI: 1.486–3.472, P  = 0.001) and physical (AOR: 2.29, 95% CI: 1.48–3.94, P = 0.001) violence than mothers whose partners did not have extra marital affairs. Mothers whose partners consume alcohol were more likely to experience sexual violence (AOR: 2.00, 95% CI: 1.17–3.41, P  = 0.001) than mothers whose partners did not drink. Finally, mothers who spent more than 30 min drawing water were at greater risk of experiencing IPV than mothers who spent less than 30 min. Conclusion This study found a significantly higher prevalence of IPV against mothers of under-five children in rural Malawi compared to women in the general population. Micro and macro-level programs aimed at mitigating the partners’ potential risk behaviors identified in this study are suggested. Public health programs that support increased household access to safe water are also recommended to help undermine IPV against mothers.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Adolescent / Adolescent mothers / Adult / Age / Aggression / Behavior / Biostatistics / Child / Child, Preschool / Children / Children & youth / Childrens health / Clinics / Cross-Sectional Studies / Developing countries / Domestic violence / Drinking behavior / Emotional abuse / Empowerment / Environmental Health / Epidemiology / Equality / Extramarital sexuality / Family Characteristics / Family violence / Female / Forecasts and trends / Gender equity / Health aspects / Health behavior / Health problems / Health risks / Human rights / Human rights violations / Humans / Intimate partner violence / Intimate Partner Violence - psychology / Intimate Partner Violence - statistics & numerical data / LDCs / Logistic Models / Malawi / Malawi - epidemiology / Male / Marriage / Maternal & child health / Medical diagnosis / Medicine / Medicine & Public Health / Mental health / Middle Aged / Morbidity / Mothers / Mothers - statistics & numerical data / Multivariate Analysis / Nutrition / Population / Postpartum period / Prevalence / Public Health / Regression analysis / Research Article / Risk analysis / Risk behavior / Risk Factors / Rural areas / Rural Population / Sex crimes / Sex Offenses / Sexual assault / Sexual behavior / Sexual Partners - psychology / Sexual violence / Social determinants of health / Surveys and Questionnaires / Tests / Vaccine / Violence / Violence against women / Water / Water supply / Women / Womens health / Young mothers