ArticleReproductive health2023
Silent suffering: unveiling factors associated with women's inability to seek help for intimate partner violence in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
Article in Reproductive health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 23 citations in OpenAlex.
- Help-seeking among women with disabilities who experience domestic violence in Uganda: evidence from UDHS 2006, 2011, and 2016.Global health action · 2026Article
- Understanding men's attitudes toward the justification of wife-beating in Tanzania: insights from the 2022 Demographic and Health Survey.Global health action · 2026Article
- Determinants of physical violence among women of reproductive age in Rwanda: evidence from the 2019/20 Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey (RDHS).Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2026Article
- A socio-ecological analysis of intimate partner violence among women of reproductive age in Nigeria: a multilevel analysis of data from 2008 to 2018 Nigeria demographic and health surveys.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Dual intimate partner violence among women in sub-Saharan Africa: The Case of Zambia and Zimbabwe.African journal of primary health care & family medicine · 2025Article
- Intimate Partner Violence and Determinants of HIV Seroconversion among Female Caregivers in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa: Insights from the Asenze Longitudinal Study.AIDS and behavior · 2025Article
- Characteristics of individuals who received post-exposure prophylaxis and HIV seroconversion in Malawi: an analysis of national routine HIV testing data.Journal of the International AIDS Society · 2025Article
- Prevalence and factors associated with intimate partner violence among women in Tanzania: evidence from Tanzanian demographic and health survey 2022.BMC women's health · 2025Article
- Experiences of intimate partner violence and antepartum depression among women seeking antenatal care in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: findings from the MISPOD study.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Article
- Who seeks care after intimate partner violence in Cameroon? sociodemographic differences between a hospital and population sample of women.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- Prevalence of gender-based violence and factors associated with help-seeking among university students in sub-Saharan Africa.Women's health (London, England)Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundEvidence shows that intimate partner violence (IPV) occurs more frequently in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) than in other regions of the world. However, limited empirical studies exist on the help-seeking behaviour of women who had experienced IPV in SSA. This study aimed to examine the help-seeking behaviour of women who had experienced IPV in SSA and the factors associated with their inability to seek help after experiencing IPV.
methodsThis is a quantitative study based on data from the latest demographic and health surveys (DHS) of 24 SSA countries. A sample of 53,446 women aged 15-49 years was included in the study. Associations between women's background characteristics and their help-seeking behaviour after experiencing IPV were examined using proportions and multivariate logistic regression models.
resultsOverall, 60.7% of the sample did not seek help after experiencing IPV. Women's inability to seek help for IPV was highest in Mali (80.4%) and lowest in Tanzania (43.1%). Women's level of education, wealth status, marital status, age, occupation, and country of residence had significant associations with 'not seeking help' for any type of IPV. Those who experienced generational violence (AOR = 1.26, CI = 1.19, 1.33) and those who justified wife-beating (AOR = 1.09, CI = 1.07, 1.15) had higher odds of not seeking help for any type of IPV compared to those who did not experience generational violence or did not justify wife beating. Women who experienced emotional violence (AOR = 0.53, CI = 0.51, 0.55) and physical violence (AOR = 0.74, CI = 0.70, 0.76) had lower odds of not seeking help for any type of IPV compared to their counterparts who did not experience these types of violence.
conclusionWomen's inability to seek help for IPV is common in many SSA countries. This study shows that several socio-demographic factors, such as women's age, educational levels, wealth status, and marital status are associated with their inability to seek help for IPV. Additionally, women's justification of wife beating and experience of generational abuse are strongly associated with their inability to seek help for IPV. These factors need to be considered critically in IPV interventions in SSA.
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