Gender-based violence and associated factors in communities in Uganda: data from the social innovation in health initiative

Abstract

Background Addressing gender-based violence (GBV) requires a contextual understanding of its associated factors. The purpose of the study was to determine the prevalence and factors associated with GBV among beneficiaries of social innovation health projects in Uganda, inorder to inform the programmes. Methods This was a cross-sectional study with 500 participants from five social innovation projects addressing gender and health in Uganda. Modified Poisson regression analysis with robust standard errors was used for inferential statistics. Results Lifetime prevalence of sexual violence was 23.3% among women and 2.9% among men. The prevalence of physical violence within the last 12 months was higher among women (23.7%), compared with men (7.7%). Women engaged in subsistence farming (prevalence ratio (PR)=1.12; 95% CI 1.01 to 1.24); (PR=1.19; 95% CI 1.06 to 1.33) and those from households where men alone made decisions about major household purchases (PR=1.18; 95% CI 1.05 to 1.33); (PR=1.19; 95% CI 1.05 to 1.34) were more likely to experience sexual violence and physical violence, respectively. Women having a disability (PR=1.20; 95% CI 1.03 to 1.39) were also more likely to experience physical violence. Conversely, women whose husbands were involved in domestic work were less likely to experience sexual violence (PR=0.84; 95% CI 0.78 to 0.90) and physical violence (PR=0.83; 95% CI 0.76 to 0.91). Conclusion There was high prevalence of sexual and physical violence, among women in the studied population. There is a need to strengthen and scale up targeted interventions and policies to address the identified burden and risk factors and to promote gender equality, as is undertaken by the social innovation projects described in this study.