Skip to main content
Bulletin of the World Health Organization logoLink to Bulletin of the World Health Organization
. 2003 Mar 11;81(1):53–60.

Domestic violence in rural Uganda: evidence from a community-based study.

Michael A Koenig 1, Tom Lutalo 1, Feng Zhao 1, Fred Nalugoda 1, Fred Wabwire-Mangen 1, Noah Kiwanuka 1, Jennifer Wagman 1, David Serwadda 1, Maria Wawer 1, Ron Gray 1
PMCID: PMC2572313  PMID: 12640477

Abstract

Although domestic violence is an increasing public health concern in developing countries, evidence from representative, community-based studies is limited. In a survey of 5109 women of reproductive age in the Rakai District of Uganda, 30% of women had experienced physical threats or physical abuse from their current partner--20% during the year before the survey. Three of five women who reported recent physical threats or abuse reported three or more specific acts of violence during the preceding year, and just under a half reported injuries as a result. Analysis of risk factors highlights the pivotal roles of the male partner's alcohol consumption and his perceived human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk in increasing the risk of male against female domestic violence. Most respondents--70% of men and 90% of women--viewed beating of the wife or female partner as justifiable in some circumstances, posing a central challenge to preventing violence in such settings.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (168.6 KB).


Articles from Bulletin of the World Health Organization are provided here courtesy of World Health Organization

RESOURCES