PREVALENCE AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS OF GENDER BASED VIOLENCE AMONG INTERNALLY DISPLACED WOMEN IN NORTHWEST ETHIOPIA, 2022

Abstract

Abstract Background: Gender based violence (GBV) is the most common human right violence in conflictaffected areas. Women with GBV are prone to experience mental health problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety and suicide. However, there is a lack of evidence on the prevalence and associated factors of GBV among internally displaced person (IDP) in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study was aimed to provide essential data on GBV and associated factors among IDP to intervene in the future. Objective: To assess the prevalence and associated factors of gender-based violence among internally displaced women in northwest Ethiopia, 2022. Methods: Cross-sectional study was conducted from May 20 to June 20, 2022. Simple random sampling technique was used to recruit a total of 424 study participants. GBV was assessed by using a 6-item Assessment Screen to Identify Survivors Toolkit questionnaire for Gender Based Violence (ASISTGBV). Binary logistic regression analysis was used. Initially, the association between independent variables and the outcome was assessed in bi-variable analyses. Afterwards, all independent variables that had a p-value of 0.2 and below were entered once into a multivariable logistic regression. Finally, all the independent variables with p- value of less than 0.05 in multivariable analysis were defined to have a statistically significant association with GBV at 95% CI. Results: A total of 412 displaced women completed the survey constituting a 97.2% response rate. The one- year prevalence of GBV was 37.9% with 95% CI (33.2%- 42.6%). In the multivariable logistic regression analyses, age 18-24(AOR = 3.52, 95% CI = 2.15-5.34) and 25-29(AOR = 2.41, 95% CI = 1.57-3.24), absence of protection (AOR = 3.18, 95% CI = 2.65-6.22) current alcohol use (AOR =2.54, 95% CI= 1.22-4.78) and being single (AOR = 1.69, 95% CI= 1.18-2.87) were significantly associated with GBV. Conclusion and recommendation: In this study, the prevalence of GBV was high. Young adults, single marital status, absence of protection and current alcohol use were risky for gender-based violence. Therefore, it is better that the ministry of health, non-governmental institutions as well as other responsible bodies to focus in the prevention and to identify and manage GBV. Thus, young adult, single marital status, absence of protection and current alcohol users need greater emphasis in the intervention. Key words: Conflict, Gender based violence, Internally displaced women, Northwest Ethiopia