Gender-based violence in a rural Nigerian community during the COVID-19 era: a call for policy action

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Gender-based violence (GBV) is a global pandemic which is deeply rooted in culture, hence the need to contextually understand its occurrence and patterns in rural settings. Objectives: This study assessed respondents´ attitude, prevalence, the perceived risk factors, patterns and predictors of GBV in Ife-Odan, Osun State, Nigeria. METHODS: cross-sectional study design was used and multi-stage sampling method employed to recruit 450 consenting adults. A Pretested Interviewer-administered, semi-structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were carried out. RESULTS: mean age (±SD) of the respondents was 30.73±7.0, 58.7% of them were females and 88.0% had negative attitude to GBV. Prevalence of any form of GBV was 16.2%. Predominant GBV types included intimate partner violence (IPV) (58.3%), female genitalmutilation (31.1%), sexual violence (6.9%) and incest (3.4%). Perceived risk factors of GBV included cultural acceptance, substance abuse, lack of punishments for GBV offenders, indecent female dressing styles, social media influences, effects of COVID-19 lockdown and male dominance. However, gender (AOR=7.82; 95%CI=2.35-8.17), marital status (AOR=3.23;95%CI=1.82-3.78), religion (AOR=5.02;95%CI=1.78-9.63) and attitude (AOR=4.23; 95%CI=2.267-5.82) were the significant predictors of past GBV experiences in the study setting. CONCLUSION: Gender-based violence (GBV) is prevalent in the study setting, with IPV being the most common. There is need for policymakers to focus on cultural transformation by designing a robust awareness campaign against GBV in rural Nigerian communities. Traditional and religious leaders should be sensitized and involved in the campaign programs using all available channels of communication. Laws prohibiting perpetration of GBV need to be fully implemented.