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Prevalence and determinants of experience of physical violence among ever-partnered women age 18-35 years in South Africa

Mluleki Tsawe, North-West University
Stephina Mbele, North-West University

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a common problem across the world, especially among young women. Although common, each country experiences IPV differently. Various studies have reported varying prevalence of IPV in different countries, although the highest prevalence reported is in sub-Saharan Africa. This paper focuses on youthful women (defined as those aged 18-35) and uses large-scale data, from the South Africa Demographic and Health Survey 2016, to examine the prevalence and risk factors for physical violence among ever-partnered youthful women in South Africa. The preliminary analysis shows that one of every five young women have experienced physical violence in their lifetime. In addition, young women from Eastern Cape, North West, and Mpumalanga had the highest experience of physical violence, while the lowest prevalence was reported in Gauteng province. The multivariate analysis showed that (i) age, (ii) afraid of partner, (iii) history of violence at home, (iv) partner's drinking habits, (v) household wealth, and (vi) province were the strongest risk factors for the experience of physical violence.

Keywords: Family demography, Children and youth

See extended abstract.

  Presented in Session P4.