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Experiences of intimate partner violence among same-sex partners in South Africa: what is the role of age-disparity?

Nicole De Wet- Billings, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Brendon Billings, University of the Witwatersrand

Background: Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and gender-based violence (GBV) are high in South Africa. Partner age-difference, among others, are known to contribute to IPV. Most of the research and focus is on male-to-female violence. However, there is evidence to suggest that IPV occurs in same-sex partnerships but not much research is done on same-sex partners, as this is still a taboo in many African countries. In this paper we investigate if age-disparity is also a risk factor for IPV among same-sex couples in the country. Data and Methods: The South African National HIV Prevalence, Incidence, Behaviour and Communication Survey, 2017 (SABSSM 2017) is used. A weighted sample of 542,694 (52.65% male and 47.35% female) are analysed. The outcome of interest in this study is intimate partner violence (IPV) and the study controls for age-disparity as well as demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents who reported a most recent sexual partner as the same sex. Descriptive cross-tabulations and an unadjusted logistic regression model will be fit to the data. Preliminary Results: More males (52.62%) had an older same-sex partner than females (47.38%). Among females with female sexual partners, 15.89% had experienced at least one type of IPV by their partner.

Keywords: Demographic and social surveys, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights

See extended abstract.

  Presented in Session P8.