Association Between Girl-child Marriage and Intimate Partner Violence in Sub-Saharan Africa: Insights From a Multicountry Analysis of Demographic and Health Surveys.

Ahinkorah, BO; Onayemi, OM; Seidu, A-A; Awopegba, OE; Ajayi, AI

Association Between Girl-child Marriage and Intimate Partner Violence in Sub-Saharan Africa: Insights From a Multicountry Analysis of Demographic and Health Surveys.

Ahinkorah, BO Onayemi, OM Seidu, A-A Awopegba, OE Ajayi, AI

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Publisher:: SAGE Publications
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Journal of interpersonal violence, 2021, pp. 8862605211005139
Issue Date:: 2021-04-09

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Ahinkorah, BO
dc.contributor.author	Onayemi, OM
dc.contributor.author	Seidu, A-A
dc.contributor.author	Awopegba, OE
dc.contributor.author	Ajayi, AI
dc.date.accessioned	2021-09-09T04:42:12Z
dc.date.available	2021-09-09T04:42:12Z
dc.date.issued	2021-04-09
dc.identifier.citation	Journal of interpersonal violence, 2021, pp. 8862605211005139
dc.identifier.issn	0886-2605
dc.identifier.issn	1552-6518
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/150427
dc.description.abstract	While considerable attention has been given to the health consequences of child marriage in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), limited studies exist on its impact on intimate partner violence (IPV) in the region. We address this gap by examining the link between child marriage and IPV. We tested our study hypothesis using demographic and health survey data of 28,206 young women aged 20-24 years from 16 SSA countries with recent surveys (2015-2019). Binary logistic regression models were used to examine the effect of child marriage on IPV. Child marriage prevalence ranged from 13.5% in Rwanda, in East Africa, to 77% in Chad, in Central Africa, while IPV ranged from 17.5% in Mozambique in Southern Africa to 42% in Uganda, in East Africa. Past year experience of IPV was higher among young women who married or begun cohabiting before the age of 18 (36.9%) than those who did at age 18 or more (32.5%). This result was consistent for all forms of violence: physical violence (22.7% vs 19.7%), emotional violence (25.3% vs 21.9%), and sexual violence (12% vs 10.4%). After controlling for covariates, we found that young women in SSA who married before 18 years were more likely to experience IPV than those who married as adults (AOR: 1.20; 95% CI [1.12, 1.29]). Significant heterogeneity was observed in the country-level results, with a higher likelihood of IPV found in 14 of the 16 countries and lower in Angola and Chad. Child marriage is associated with a higher likelihood of IPV in most SSA countries, suggesting that ending child marriage will result in a substantial reduction in IPV. There is a need to institute policies to support and protect women who marry as children from abusive relationships in SSA.
dc.format	Print-Electronic
dc.language	eng
dc.publisher	SAGE Publications
dc.relation.ispartof	Journal of interpersonal violence
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1177/08862605211005139
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess
dc.subject	1602 Criminology, 1607 Social Work, 1701 Psychology
dc.subject.classification	Criminology
dc.title	Association Between Girl-child Marriage and Intimate Partner Violence in Sub-Saharan Africa: Insights From a Multicountry Analysis of Demographic and Health Surveys.
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.location.activity	United States
utslib.for	1602 Criminology
utslib.for	1607 Social Work
utslib.for	1701 Psychology
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health/Public Health
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access	*
dc.date.updated	2021-09-09T04:42:11Z
pubs.publication-status	Published

Abstract:

While considerable attention has been given to the health consequences of child marriage in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), limited studies exist on its impact on intimate partner violence (IPV) in the region. We address this gap by examining the link between child marriage and IPV. We tested our study hypothesis using demographic and health survey data of 28,206 young women aged 20-24 years from 16 SSA countries with recent surveys (2015-2019). Binary logistic regression models were used to examine the effect of child marriage on IPV. Child marriage prevalence ranged from 13.5% in Rwanda, in East Africa, to 77% in Chad, in Central Africa, while IPV ranged from 17.5% in Mozambique in Southern Africa to 42% in Uganda, in East Africa. Past year experience of IPV was higher among young women who married or begun cohabiting before the age of 18 (36.9%) than those who did at age 18 or more (32.5%). This result was consistent for all forms of violence: physical violence (22.7% vs 19.7%), emotional violence (25.3% vs 21.9%), and sexual violence (12% vs 10.4%). After controlling for covariates, we found that young women in SSA who married before 18 years were more likely to experience IPV than those who married as adults (AOR: 1.20; 95% CI [1.12, 1.29]). Significant heterogeneity was observed in the country-level results, with a higher likelihood of IPV found in 14 of the 16 countries and lower in Angola and Chad. Child marriage is associated with a higher likelihood of IPV in most SSA countries, suggesting that ending child marriage will result in a substantial reduction in IPV. There is a need to institute policies to support and protect women who marry as children from abusive relationships in SSA.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/150427