Abstract:
Introduction: -Violence against women is a main public health problem that affects the
physical, sexual, mental and social wellbeing of more than 30% of all women
worldwide.Objective: -To determine the prevalence of physical and sexual intimate partner
violence and associated factors among married adolescent girls and young women aged below 25
years old in pastoralist community of Dassenech woreda.
Methods: Community based cross-sectional study design was conducted, in Dassenech woreda
among married AGYW from March to April 2022. Multistage sampling technique was employed
to select 535 the study participants. The data was collected through pre-tested and standardize
WHO multicounty study tools.The data were cleaned, coded and entered in to Epi-Data version
7.2 and transferred to SPSS version 26 statistical software for analysis. Descriptive
analysis,mean, frequency and percentage were computed. The Bi-variable logistic regression
model was conducted to identify candidate variables at P-value of 0.25 and Multivariable
logistics regression analysis done measured using adjusted odds ratio with 95% of CI, finallythe
statistical significance was declared at p-value < 0.05.
Results: -The prevalence of physical intimate partner violence was 44.1% and sexual intimate
partner violence was 39.3% in the last 12 month.Not having formal education, Being married
and having parity3-4child werefactors significantly associated with sexual intimate partner
violence. Having Parity3-4child, Parity5 & above, conducting Dimi culture,Being housewife,
husband alcohol drinking and both husband and wife‘s drinksalcoholwere factors significantly
associated with intimate partner physical violence.
Conclusion and recommendation:Intimate partner violence is highly prevalent among married
adolescent girls and young women in Dassenech Woreda. The prevalence of physical intimate
partner violence was 44.1% and sexual intimate partner violence was 39.3%.Not having formal
educational, having parity 2-3,having parity 5 & above, alcohol consumption, performing Dimi
cultural
ceremony, being housewife and being married were significantfactors.
Thereforeinterventional measures like IEC to change attitude of cultural leaders, family planning
service to ensure birth spacing, educating AGYW on risky health behavior, enhancing school
participation.
