Assensing predisposing factors associated with gender based violence amongst married women attending Nairobi Womens Hospital, Kenya

Abstract

Background: Studies have shown that violence against women which is manifested in multiple forms is increasingly seen as a major public health concern. The findings from a study conducted in Kenya indicated that 46% of ever-married women have experienced any type of intimate partner violence. This is a problem affecting people from all walks of life, in Kenya, information on most aspects of gender based violence is inadequate and there is great need for research on all aspects gender based violence and therefore this research seeks to fill this gap by assessing the predisposing factors attending the Nairobi women’s hospital, in Nairobi Kenya. Objective: Assessing the predisposing factors associated with Gender-based violence amongst married women attending Nairobi Women’s Hospital. Methodology: The study was a hospital based cross-sectional study conducted at gender violence and recovery Centre of Nairobi Women’s Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, where 325 gender based violence victims visiting the facility were recruited to participate in the study. Data was collected using questionnaires and focus group discussions and the predisposing factors to be analyzed were age, marital status, economic status and education level. The data from the questionnaire forms were coded and entered in the Ms-Access, which was then analyzed using STATA version 13and the association was tested using chi-square at 5%confidence level. Data collected from Focus Group Discussions was sorted manually based on themes developed from issues arising from responses, transcribed translated and coded. Results: Age (P<0.0001), marital status (p=0.015), whether the victim was alone during the incidence (P<0.0001), drinking habit of the victim (P=0.011), and whether perpetrator was drunk during the incidence (P=0.026) individually showed statistically significant association with the forms of violence experienced while highest level of education (P=0.575) and occupation (P=0.101) individually showed no statistical association with the forms of violence. Conclusion: Women experience gender-based violence in a number of contexts and roles, and many have accepted their situation and therefore prevention strategies should be implemented to address the spectrum of GBV women victims.