Intimate partner violence and health system response in Nekemte town, Western Oromia, Ethiopia, 2019: A cross-sectional study

Objectives: To assess intimate partner violence and health system response among married women. Methods: A mixed method of quantitative and qualitative cross-sectional community-based study was conducted from August to September 2019. Later than ethical clearance, the data were collected using a pretested structured questionnaire adapted from the literature. Study participants were selected using systematic random sampling. Data collected is entered into EpiData and then exported to SPSS version 25 for analysis. The odds ratio with their 95% confidence interval was calculated. Variables with p-value < 0.25 in bivariate analysis were entered into multivariate logistic regression. Statistical significance was declared if the p-value was <0.05. Results: From all 770 sampled participants in Nekemte town, 730 married women participated in this study, yielding a response rate of 94.8%. The prevalence of intimate partner violence was 55.9%. From this study finding, no intimate partner violence screening was done for 678 (92.9%) respondents who visited health facilities. Educational status of women, partner being illiterate, occupational status being merchant, and daily laborer were associated with intimate partner violence with (adjusted odds ratio = 1.73, 95% confidence interval = (1.05-2.83)), (adjusted odds ratio = 5.94, 95% confidence interval = (1.25-12.23)), (adjusted odds ratio = 4.41, 95% confidence interval = (1.49-13.01)), and (adjusted odds ratio = 3.74, 95% confidence interval = (1.33-10.50)), respectively, were factors found to be associated with intimate partner violence Nekemte town. One of the study participants whose age was 36 years responded that, "our culture approves men's superiority; we accept intimate partner violence as part of our marital life." There is an assigned focal person and training was given to them, but screening of intimate partner violence has not started yet and it was not integrated into any maternal service in our health center. Conclusion: This study shows that in excess of half of women experience intimate partner violence. Educational status, occupation and violence seen during childhood were the factors that contributed to intimate partner violence. Educating women and partners, integrating, and strengthening a health service are important.