Investigating the causes and consequences of intimate partner violence
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a major public health and human rights issue. One in three women experience physical and sexual IPV and non-partner sexual violence during their lifetime, with higher rates seen in sub-Saharan Africa. Research has identified a range of risk factors associated with IPV, such as alcohol abuse, social isolation and a lack of economic and social empowerment, though other evidence suggests that IPV is a predictor for these factors. “Most of the quantitative evidence we have comes from cross-sectional surveys conducted at only one point in time, so we cannot say whether these factors are more likely to be predictors or consequences of violence,” says Heidi Stöckl, professor of Public Health Evaluation at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and IPV_Tanzania project coordinator. To fill in this deficit in understanding, the IPV_Tanzania project, which was funded by the European Research Council, launched one of the largest longitudinal studies of IPV ever carried out in the developing world. “We have provided more evidence on the crucial risk and protective factors of intimate partner violence: mental health, alcohol use and empowerment and how they are impacting women’s experience of violence in their relationships,” adds Stöckl.
Exploring IPV amongst women and men
The IPV_Tanzania team collected and analysed quantitative and qualitative data from 1 200 women in Tanzania at four discrete time points over five years. The project also carried out an in-depth study of 30 men and a cross-sectional survey of 1 200 men. To ensure that both female and male respondents felt comfortable speaking about their experiences and perpetration of violence, the team had to plan the study in great detail and adhere to safety and ethical considerations. “The training of interviewers was crucial, as in settings with high levels of intimate partner violence it is likely that some of the interviewers have experienced violence themselves,” explains Stöckl. This training included how to ask about violence in relationships sensitively and how to react to distress.
Uncovering patterns of abuse
In the female cohort study, the team found that IPV changes more within a period of five years than expected. “Women reported a significant decrease in physical and or sexual intimate partner violence but an increase in psychological intimate partner violence,” notes Stöckl. “We furthermore found that food insecurity is an important predictor of intimate partner violence and that it often co-occurs with violence against children.” For the men, the researchers discovered very high levels of IPV and non-partner sexual violence, yet also high levels of experiences of violence during their own childhood, at work and among their peers. “These findings need to be further investigated, but we established crucial risk factors that were previously poorly understood, such as gambling and pornography usage,” adds Stöckl.
Designing new interventions
The findings will feed into intervention studies, particularly as repeatedly asking women about their experiences seemed to be an intervention itself. Forthcoming work will explore the impact of social and community factors on IPV, and how women’s current coping strategies affect their levels of IPV. “The male study identified several new risk factors for intimate partner violence, such as gambling, which have not received sufficient attention yet,” says Stöckl.
Keywords
IPV_Tanzania, intimate partner violence, interventions, patterns, abuse, childhood, Tanzania, social empowerment
