Assessing attitudes towards violence against women and girls, their determinants and health-seeking behaviour among women and men in South Sudan: a cross-sectional national survey

Lamadrid, Angelo, Jeffery, Caroline, Anguyo, Robert, Devkota, Baburam, Lako, Richard and Valadez, Joseph ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6575-6592 (2024) 'Assessing attitudes towards violence against women and girls, their determinants and health-seeking behaviour among women and men in South Sudan: a cross-sectional national survey'. BMJ Open, Vol 14, Issue 6, e080022.

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Abstract

Objective
Investigating attitudes accepting two categories of violence against women and girls (VAWG) (intimate partner violence—IPV—and other expressions of VAWG) and their association with seven demographic/social determinants and health-seeking behaviours in South Sudan.

Design
Cross-sectional study using data from the South Sudan National Household Survey 2020.

Setting
South Sudan.

Participants and methods
1741 South Sudanese women and 1739 men aged 15–49 years; data captured between November 2020 and February 2021 and analysed using binary logistic regression.

Results
People with secondary or higher education displayed attitudes rejecting acceptance of IPV (OR 0.631, 95% CI 0.508 to 0.783). Women and men living in states with more numerous internally displaced people (IDP) or political/military violence had attitudes accepting IPV more than residents of less violence-affected regions (OR 1.853, 95% CI 1.587 to 2.164). Women had a higher odd of having attitudes accepting IPV than men (OR 1.195, 95% CI 1.014 to 1.409). People knowing where to receive gender-based violence healthcare and psychological support (OR 0.703, 95% CI 0.596 to 0.830) and with primary (OR 0.613, 95% CI 0.515 to 0.729), secondary or higher education (OR 0.596, 95% CI 0.481 to 0.740) displayed attitudes rejecting acceptance of other expressions of VAWG. People residing in states with proportionately more IDP and who accepted IPV were more likely to have attitudes accepting other expressions of VAWG (OR 1.699, 95% CI 1.459 to 1.978; OR 3.195, 95% CI 2.703 to 3.775, respectively).

Conclusion
Attitudes towards accepting VAWG in South Sudan are associated with women’s and men’s education, gender, residence and knowledge about health-seeking behaviour. Prioritising women’s empowerment and gender transformative programming in the most conflict-affected areas where rates of VAWG are higher should be prioritised along with increasing girls’ access to education. A less feasible strategy to decrease gender inequalities is reducing insecurity, military conflict, and displacement, and increasing economic stability.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	WA Public Health > WA 30 Socioeconomic factors in public health (General) WA Public Health > Health Problems of Special Population Groups > WA 305 Mental health of special population groups WA Public Health > Health Problems of Special Population Groups > WA 309 Women's health WA Public Health > Health Problems of Special Population Groups > WA 320 Child Welfare. Child Health Services. WA Public Health > Health Problems of Special Population Groups > WA 325 Child Abuse
Faculty: Department:	Clinical Sciences & International Health > International Public Health Department
Digital Object Identifer (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-080022
SWORD Depositor:	JISC Pubrouter
Depositing User:	JISC Pubrouter
Date Deposited:	11 Jun 2024 12:28
Last Modified:	11 Jun 2024 12:28
URI:	https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/24732

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