Top

BMC Women's Health

Published in:

Open Access 01-12-2015 | Research article

Correlates of intimate partner violence against women during a time of rapid social transition in Rwanda: analysis of the 2005 and 2010 demographic and health surveys

Authors: Dana R. Thomson, Assiatou B. Bah, Wilson G. Rubanzana, Leon Mutesa

Published in: BMC Women's Health | Issue 1/2015

Abstract

Background

In Rwanda, women who self-reported in household surveys ever experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) increased from 34 % in 2005 to 56 % in 2010. This coincided with a new constitution and majority-female elected parliament in 2003, and 2008 legislation protecting against gender-based violence. The increase in self-reported IPV may reflect improved social power for women, and/or disruptions to traditional gender roles that increased actual IPV.

Methods

This is a cross-sectional study of IPV in 4338 couples interviewed in the 2005 and 2010 Rwanda Demographic and Health Surveys (RDHSs). Factors associated with physical or sexual IPV in the last 12 months were modeled using manual backward stepwise logistic regression. Analyses were conducted in Stata v13 adjusting for complex survey design.

Results

Risk factors for IPV in 2005 (p < 0.05) were: experiencing emotional IPV (OR = 18.1), beating husband/partner unprovoked (OR = 12.3), witnessing IPV against mother (OR = 1.82), husband/partner consumes alcohol often (OR = 3.13), and polygynous marriage (OR = 1.51), whereas having a husband/partner with secondary education (OR = 0.43) was protective. Factors associated with increased IPV in 2010 (p < 0.05) were husband/partner (OR = 1.30) or woman (OR = 1.36) believes IPV is justified, husband/partner has sex with non-marital partners (OR = 2.52), bottom wealth quintile (OR = 1.25), polygynous marriage (OR = 2.29), having a son (OR = 2.05) or only daughters (OR = 2.58) versus no children, and having a husband/partner employed with in-kind versus cash compensation (OR = 1.58). In 2010, woman being involved with her own health (OR = 0.79) or earnings (OR = 0.57) decision-making was protective against IPV. Several variables were not available in the 2010 RDHS.

Conclusions

Our results may provide evidence of both increased self-reporting of IPV and social power disruption. Rwanda’s Isange One Stop Center project, with medical, legal, and psychosocial services for domestic violence victims, is currently scaling to all 44 district hospitals, and police station gender desks reduce barriers to legal reporting of IPV. Additional support to Abunzi mediators to hear IPV cases in communities, and involvement of men in grassroots efforts to redefine masculinity in Rwanda are suggested. Additional research is needed to understand why self-reported IPV has increased in Rwanda, and to evaluate effectiveness of IPV interventions.

Campbell JC. Health consequences of intimate partner violence. Lancet. 2002;359:1331–6. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(02)08336-8.CrossRefPubMed

Ellsberg M, Jansen HA, Heise L, Watts CH, Garcia-Moreno C, WHO Multi-country Study on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence against Women Study Team. Intimate partner violence and women’s physical and mental health in the WHO multi-country study on women’s health and domestic violence: an observational study. Lancet. 2008;371:1165–72. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(08)60522-X.CrossRefPubMed

World Health Organization (WHO): Global and regional estimates of violence against women: prevalence and health effects of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence. WHO. 2013. http://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/violence/9789241564625/en/. Accessed 2 Feb 2015.

International ICF. Demographic and health surveys methodology - questionnaires: Household, woman’s, and man’s. MEASURE DHS phase III. Calverton, MD: ICF International; 2011.

World Health Organization (WHO). WHO multi-country study on women’s health and life events. Questionnaire v9.9. Geneva: WHO; 2005.

Reproductive health surveys: Global Health Data Exchange, Seattle. 2014. http://ghdx.healthdata.org/series/reproductive-health-survey-rhs. Accessed 26 Sept 2014.

Johnson H, Ollus N, Nevala S. Violence against women: An international perspective. New York: Springer; 2008.

Institut National de la Statistique du Rwanda (INSR), ORC Macro. Rwanda demographic and health survey 2005. Calverton, MD: INSR and ORC Macro; 2006.

National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) [Rwanda], Ministry of Health (MOH) [Rwanda], ICF International. Rwanda demographic and health survey 2010. Calverton, MD: NISR, MOH, and ICF International; 2012.

10.

Devlin C, Elgie R. The effect of increased women’s representation in parliament: The case of Rwanda. Parliam Aff. 2008;61:237–54. doi:10.1093/pa/gsn007.CrossRef

11.

Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children (WCRWC). Rwanda’s women and children: The long road to reconciliation. New York: WCRWC; 1997.

12.

Bowman CG: Theories of domestic violence in the African context. Cornell Law Faculty Publications. 2003. http://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/facpub/131. Accessed 18 Feb 2015.

13.

Burrill E, Roberts R, Thornberry E. Domestic violence and the law in colonial and postcolonial Africa. Athens, OH: Ohio University Press; 2010.CrossRef

14.

Wallace C, Haerpfer C, Abbott P. Women in Rwandan politics and society. Int J Sociol Fam. 2008;38:111–25. doi:10.2753/IJS0020-7659380406.CrossRef

15.

Sugarman DB, Frankel SL. Patriarchal ideology and wife assault: A meta-analytic review. J Fam Violence. 1996;11:13–40.CrossRef

16.

Kohlman S, Baig A, Balice G, DiRubbo C, Plancencia L, Skale K, et al. Contribution of media to the normalization and perpetuation of domestic violence. Austin J Psychiatry Behav Sci. 2014;1:e6.

17.

Uthman OA, Lawoko S, Moradi T. Factors associated with attitudes towards intimate partner violence against women: a comparative analysis of 17 sub-Saharan countries. BMC Int Health Hum Rights. 2009;9:14. doi:10.1186/1472-698X-9-14.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

18.

Burnet JE: Women have found respect: gender quotas, symbolic representation, and female empowerment in Rwanda. Politics & Gender. 2011; doi: 10.1017/S1743923X11000250.

19.

Slegh H, Richters A. Masculinity and gender-based violence in Rwanda: The potential contribution of community-based strategies to make change. In: Freedman J, editor. Engaging men in the fight against gender violence: Case studies from Africa. New York: Palgrave Macmillan; 2012.

20.

Carlson K, Randell S. Gender and development: Working with men for gender equality in Rwanda. Agenda. 2013;27:114–25. doi:10.1080/10130950.2013.796075.

21.

Islam TM, Tareque MI, Tiedt AD, Hoque N. The intergenerational transmission of intimate partner violence in Bangladesh. Glob Health Action. 2014;7:23591. doi:10.3402/gha.v7.23591.PubMed

22.

Abeya SG, Afework MF, Yalew AW. Intimate partner violence against women in western Ethiopia: prevalence, patterns, and associated factors. BMC Public Health. 2011;11:913. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-11-913.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

23.

Rada C. Violence against women by male partners and against children within the family: prevalence, associated factors, and intergenerational transmission in Romania, a cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health. 2014;14:129. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-14-129.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

24.

Vieira EM, Perdona Gda S, Santos MA. Factors associated with intimate partner physical violence among health service users. Rev Saude Publica. 2011;45:730–7.CrossRefPubMed

25.

Rani M, Bonu S. Attitudes toward wife beating: a cross-country study in Asia. J Interpers Violence. 2009;24:1371–97. doi:10.1177/0886260508322182.CrossRefPubMed

26.

Zacarias AE, Macassa G, Svanstrom L, Soares JJF, Antai D. Intimate partner violence against women in Maputo city, Mozambique. BMC Int Health Hum Rights. 2012;12:35. doi:10.1186/1472-698X-12-35.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

27.

Moore TM, Stuart GL, Meehan JC, Rhatigan DL, Hellmuth JC, Keen SM. Drug abuse and aggression between intimate partners: a meta-analytic review. Clin Psychol Rev. 2008;28:247–74.CrossRefPubMed

28.

Jewkes R. Intimate partner violence: causes and prevention. Lancet. 2002;359:1423–9.CrossRefPubMed

29.

Makayoto LA, Omolo J, Kamweya AM, Harder VS, Mutai J. Prevalence and associated factors of intimate partner violence among pregnant women attending Kisumu District Hospital, Kenya. Matern Child Health J. 2013;17:441–7. doi:10.1007/s10995-012-1015-x.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

30.

Zawacki T, Norris J, George WH, Abbey A, Martell J, Stoner SA, et al. Explicating alcohol’s role in acquaintance sexual assault: complementary perspectives and convergent findings. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2005;29:263–9.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

31.

Rocca CH, Rathod S, Falle T, Pande RP, Krishnan S. Challenging assumptions about womens empowerment: social and economic resources and domestic violence among young married women in urban South India. Int J Epidemiol. 2009;38:577–85. doi:10.1093/ije/dyn226.CrossRefPubMed

32.

African Centre for Gender and Social Development: Violence against women in Africa: a situational analysis. United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. 2010. http://www1.uneca.org/Portals/awro/Publications/21VAW%20in%20Africa-A%20situational%20analysis.pdf. Accessed 2 Feb 2015.

33.

Martin SL, Tsui AO, Maitra K, Marinshaw R. Domestic violence in northern India. Am J Epidemiol. 1999;150:417–26.CrossRefPubMed

34.

Boyle MH, Georgiades K, Cullen J, Racine Y. Community influences on intimate partner violence in India: women’s education, attitudes towards mistreatment and standards of living. Soc Sci Med. 2009;69:691–7. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.06.039.CrossRefPubMed

35.

Krishnan S, Rocca CH, Hubbard AE, Subbiah K, Edmeades J, Padian NS. Do changes in spousal employment status lead to domestic violence? Insights from a prospective study in Bangalore, India. Soc Sci Med. 2010;70:136–43. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.09.026.CrossRefPubMed

36.

Mutisi M. Local conflict resolution in Rwanda: the case of abunzi mediators. In: Kasaija P, Rothbart D, Tsuma W, editors. Integrating Traditional and Modern Conflict Resolution Experiences from selected cases in Eastern and the Horn of Africa. Durban, South Africa: Accord; 2012. p. 41–74.

37.

Lawoko S, Dalal K, Jiayou L, Jansson B. Social inequalities in intimate partner violence: A study of women in Kenya. Violence Vict. 2007;22:773–84. doi:10.1891/088667007782793101.CrossRefPubMed

38.

Strauss G. Is polygamy inherently unequal? Ethics. 2012;122:516–44. doi:10.1086/664754.CrossRef

39.

O’Leary DK, Smith Slep AM, O’Leary SG. Co-occurrence of partner and parent Aggression: Research and treatment implications. Behav Ther. 2000;31:631–48. doi:10.1016/S0005-7894(00)80035-0.CrossRef

40.

Jouriles EN, McDonald R, Slep AMS, Heyman RE, Garrido E. Child abuse in the context of domestic violence: Prevalence, explanations, and practice implications. Violence Vict. 2008;23:221–35. doi:10.1891/0886-6708.23.2.221.CrossRefPubMed

41.

Knox A: Abunzi capacity assessment. Rwanda LAND Project. 2012. http://rwandapedia.rw/content/abunzi-reports. Accessed 2 Feb 2015

42.

Sideris T. “You have to change and you don’t know how!”: Contesting what it means to be a man in a rural area of South Africa. Afr Stud. 2004;63:29–49. doi:10.1080/0002018042000226148.CrossRef

43.

Powley E, Pearson E. Gender is society: Inclusive lawmaking in Rwanda’s parliament. Critical Half. 2007;5:15–9.

44.

Barker G, Contreras JM, Heilman B, Singh AK, Verma RK, Nascimento M: Evolving men: Initial results from the International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES). 2011. http://promundoglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Evolving-Men-Initial-Results-from-IMAGES.pdf. Accessed 15 Jul 2015.

45.

Seedat M, Van Niekerk A, Jewkes R, Suffla S, Ratele K. Health in South Africa 5 Violence and injuries in South Africa: prioritising an agenda for prevention. Lancet. 2009;374:1011–22.CrossRefPubMed

46.

Ellsberg M, Heise L, Pena R, Agurto S, Winkvist A. Researching domestic violence against women:methodological and ethical considerations. Stud Fam Plann. 2001.doi:10.1111/j.1728-4465.2001.00001.x.

Title: Correlates of intimate partner violence against women during a time of rapid social transition in Rwanda: analysis of the 2005 and 2010 demographic and health surveys
Authors: Dana R. Thomson
Assiatou B. Bah
Wilson G. Rubanzana
Leon Mutesa
Publication date: 01-12-2015
Publisher: BioMed Central
Published in: BMC Women's Health / Issue 1/2015
Electronic ISSN: 1472-6874
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-015-0257-3

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Correlates of intimate partner violence against women during a time of rapid social transition in Rwanda: analysis of the 2005 and 2010 demographic and health surveys

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 1/2015

Print versus a culturally-relevant Facebook and text message delivered intervention to promote physical activity in African American women: a randomized pilot trial

Cytological evaluation of breast lesions in symptomatic patients presenting to Kenyatta National Hospital, Kenya: a retrospective study

Emotional suppression and depressive symptoms in women newly diagnosed with early breast cancer

Cross-sectional and longitudinal risk of physical impairment in a cohort of postmenopausal women who experience physical and verbal abuse

Gastrointestinal symptoms among endometriosis patients—A case-cohort study

Prevalence of Trichomonas vaginalis infection among Egyptian women using culture and Latex agglutination: cross-sectional study