Prevalence and Factors Associated with Intimate Partner Violence among Married Women in an Urban Community in Lagos State, Nigeria

Violence against women is a major public health problem globally. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in Ikosi Isheri LCDA of Lagos State among 400 married women. A multistage sampling method was used to select the respondents. The lifetime prevalence for physical violence, sexual violence and psychological violence were 50.5%, 33.8% and 85.0% respectively. Predictive factors for physical IPV include lower educational status of the women (AOR 3.22 95%CI: 1.54-6.77) and partner’s daily alcohol intake (AOR: 1.84 95%CI: 1.05-3.23). The predictors of sexual violence include unemployment status of the partners (OR 5.89:1.39-24.84) and daily/weekly alcohol use (AOR 1.87 95%CI: 1.05-3.33). Predictors of psychological violence include respondents witness of parental violence (AOR 2.80 95%CI: 1.04-7.5) and daily alcohol use by partners (AOR 2.71 95%CI: 1.19-6.18). Preventive interventions such as increasing the educational status of women and reducing the intake of alcohol by men may help break the cycle of abuse. (Afr J Reprod Health 2015; 19[1]: 91-100).