The prevalence and pattern of intimate partner violence among women attending general outpatient clinic of federal medical Centre, Keffi

ABSTRACT

Background: Intimate partner violence has globally been recognized as a public health problem that has serious adverse effects on the victim, the family and the society at large. Objectives: To determine the prevalence and pattern of intimate partner violence among women and the association with sociodemographic characteristics at the General Outpatient Clinic of Federal Medical Centre Keffi. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study of 342 women, carried out between May 14th to July 7th, 2020. Data was obtained using an interviewer-administered questionnaire and analysed using SPSS version 27. Results: The prevalence of intimate partner violence was 75.4%. Out of the 258 women with intimate partner violence, emotional violence was the most common form experienced by 180 (69.8%) of the participants. Eighty-eight (34.1%) experienced sexual violence alone and 74 (28.7%) experienced physical violence alone. Sixty-one (23.6%) of them experienced all three forms of intimate partner violence (emotional, physical and sexual violence). Conclusions: The prevalence of intimate partner violence found among women in this study was high and commonest form of intimate partner violence was emotional violence, followed by sexual violence and physical violence.