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ABSTRACT
Background: Women’s responses to partner violence are influenced by a complex constellation of factors including: psychological attachment to the partner; context of the abuse; and structural factors, all of which shape available options for women outside of the relationship.
Objective: To describe women’s responses to physical partner violence; and to understand the role of women’s economic resources on their responses.
Methods: Cross-sectional data from Dar es Salaam and Mbeya, Tanzania. Multivariate logistic regression was used to explore the relationship between women’s economic resources and their responses to violence.
Results: In both sites, among physically abused women, over one-half experienced severe violence; approximately two-thirds had disclosed the violence; and approximately 40% had sought help. Abused women were more likely to have sought help from health services, the police and religious leaders in Dar es Salaam, and from local leaders in Mbeya. Economic resources did not facilitate women’s ability to leave violent partners in Dar es Salaam. In Mbeya, women who jointly owned capital assets were less likely to have left. In both sites, women’s sole ownership of capital assets facilitated help-seeking.
Conclusion: Although support services are being scaled-up in Tanzania, efforts are needed to increase the acceptability of accessing such services.
Responsible Editor Maria Emmelin, Lund University, Sweden
Responsible Editor Maria Emmelin, Lund University, Sweden
Acknowledgement
We would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on this paper.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Ethics and consent
Ethics approval for the study was obtained from the WHO Secretariat Committee for Research in Human Subjects and in Tanzania from Muhimbili University for Health and Allied Sciences.
Paper context
In many countries around the world partner violence against women remains a silent epidemic with many women concealing their experiences of abuse. This study from Tanzania highlights the extent to which abused women, from two contrasting settings, desire assistance and especially so from family and community members. As Tanzania increases its multi-sectoral response efforts, other approaches such as community-based interventions promoting non-tolerant attitudes towards domestic violence could also play an important role in resolving cases.
Notes
1 http://databank.worldbank.org/data/home.aspx (accessed 24 October 2016).
2 Women who experienced sexual violence only (122 in DSM and 116 in Mbeya) were not asked about impact and coping mechanisms.
3 Sample excludes women who had never been partnered and women who did not respond to questions about partner violence.
4 Acceptance of wife beating was based on the respondents’ opinions that a man has a good reason to hit his wife under at least one of six circumstances: (1) she does not complete her household work; (2) she disobeys him; (3) she refuses to have sexual relations with him; (4) she ask him whether he has other girlfriends; (5) he suspects she is unfaithful; (6) he finds out she has been unfaithful.
Additional information
Funding
Notes on contributors
Seema Vyas
Dr Seema Vyas conceived and designed the study, conducted the analysis, interpreted the results and drafted and revised the paper. Dr Jessie Mbwambo was the P.I for the broader study, conceived the study, interpreted the results and contributed to the writing of the article.
Jessie Mbwambo
Dr Seema Vyas conceived and designed the study, conducted the analysis, interpreted the results and drafted and revised the paper. Dr Jessie Mbwambo was the P.I for the broader study, conceived the study, interpreted the results and contributed to the writing of the article.
