Association between polygyny and justification of violence among women in sexual unions in sub-Saharan Africa.

Authors

Richard Gyan Aboagye, Mainprice Akuoko Essuman, King David Dzirasah, Abdul-Aziz Seidu, Qorinah Estiningtyas Sakilah Adnani, Bright Opoku Ahinkorah

Published in

BMC public health. Volume 25. Issue 1. Pages 1719. May 09, 2025. Epub May 09, 2025.

Abstract

There remains a dearth of comprehensive understanding of the fundamental origins of intimate partner violence within the context of marital structure. This study examines the association between polygyny and justification of violence among women in sub-Saharan Africa.
We used up-to-date data from the Demographic and Health Surveys of twenty-one sub-Saharan African countries. A multilevel binary mixed-effect regression analysis was used to examine the association between polygyny status and justification of violence, controlling for potential covariates. The results were presented utilising adjusted odds ratios (aOR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI).
Women whose husbands/partners had other wives (co-wives) (aOR = 1.35; 95% CI 1.30, 1.40) had higher odds of justifying wife beating if wife goes out without telling compared to those whose husbands/partners had no co-wives. Similar results were obtained concerning the association between polygyny and justification of wife beating if wife burns food (aOR = 1.31; 95% CI 1.25, 1.36), neglects children (aOR = 1.31; 95% CI 1.27, 1.36), argues with the husband (aOR = 1.37; 95% CI 1.32, 1.43), and refuses to have sex with her husband (aOR = 1.30; 95% CI 1.25, 1.35).
The endorsement of violence against women within relationships, irrespective of the rationale, undermines worldwide and national endeavours aimed at tackling the issue of intimate partner violence and its associated repercussions. It is imperative to implement diverse approaches to effectively tackle the situation. Increased education and awareness campaigns focused on intimate partner violence are expected to play significant roles in effectively tackling this issue. Implementing punitive measures against individuals who perpetrate intimate partner violence upon their partners could also be adopted.

PMID:
40346541
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 10 May 2025.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.