Intimate Partner Violence and Associated Factors among Married Women live in Hosanna Town, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract ABSTRACT Background: Intimate partner violence is a problem of pandemic proportion affecting majority of world women the literature shows that pattern and underlying cause of women violence have socio-demographic and cultural difference is common in most parts of Ethiopia. To best of investigator knowledge no studies done on intimate partner violence on married women of reproductive age group in the study area. Therefore the aim of this study is to assess the intimate partner violence prevalence and its associated factors. Methods: A community based cross-sectional study design was used from March 1-15/2019 among 602 married women of Hosanna town Sothern Ethiopia. Systematic random sampling technique was used to select the study samples. Data were collected using pretested structured questionnaire, data entered into Epi-data version 3.1 software and exported to SPSS version 20 for analysis. Binary and multivariate logistic regressions were used to identify factors associated with intimate partner violence. Results: The prevalence of overall intimate partner violence among married women was 58.8 %( 54.8-62.4). Of which 45.3% reported psychological violence, while 38.1% of participant reported sexual violence. Partners who drink alcohol [(AOR= 1.44, 95%CI=1.133-2.09)], Partner’s smoke cigarettes [(AOR=4.16,CI=2.117-8.20)], partner’s experience of Fighting habit with other people [(AOR=1.56 CI=1.06-2.29),Has another wife[(AOR=1.60 CI=1.09- 2.36)],low wealth index household [(AOR= 2.97 CI=1.41-6.27)], and medium wealth index households [(AOR=2.636 CI=1.173-5.920)] were significantly associated with intimate partner violence. Conclusion: Study indicated that prevalence of intimate partner violence found to be high and affected by various factors. The problem sought harmonious urgent attention at all levels of societal hierarchy including policymakers, local leader, institutions and local community gathering and structures. Key words : Intimate partner violence, associated factors, women, Hossana, Ethiopia