Prevalence and correlates of intimate partner violence against women in Ghana: A secondary analysis of the 2022 Demographic and Health Survey

Masood Ali Shaikh^*

• College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

Background: Intimate partner violence(IPV) is globally endemic and constitutes a human rights violation that concerns half of humanity. It inflicts physical and emotional suffering, imposing an avoidable and preventable burden on health systems and societies. Methods: Using deidentified data from the 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey, a secondary analysis on the lifetime prevalence of IPV and its correlates, committed by the current or most recent husband or male intimate partner was done. Analysis involved twelve socio-demographic and other attributes in women aged15-49. Bivariate analysis entailed simple binary logisticregression models to identify statistically significant correlates, which were used in the multivariable binary logistic regression model to compute associations with IPV. Results: Overall, 36.17% women reported having experienced emotional, physical, and/or sexual violence from a current or most recent husband or intimatepartner. Most common IPV type was emotional, affecting 31.32% of respondents, followed by physical IPV at 16.85%. While 20.62% of women had experienced physical and/or sexual IPV. The educational attainment levels of both the woman and her intimatepartner, number of living children, her acceptance of IPV, her partner's alcohol use, awareness of her father having ever beaten her mother, and the marital control exerted by her intimatepartner were statistically significantly associated with IPV in the multivariable logistic regression model. Conclusion: IPV is associated with multiple complex factors. About 1.8 women out of every five in Ghana had experienced IPV in their lifetime. Highlighting the necessity for effectivepublic health and economic strategies to control this preventable suffering for women in Ghana.