Gender Discrimination and Intimate Partner Violence Patterns Among In-school Adolescent Girls in Low-Income Communities in Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) which is an extreme form of Gender Discrimination (GD) has been recognized as a public health problem especially among young women globally. Research on IPV and GD is sparse among adolescent girls in Nigeria. This study was conducted to assess the types of GD, prevalence and patterns of IPV and its correlate among in-school adolescent girls in government owned secondary schools in Ibadan, Nigeria. Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select three hundred and ninety adolescent girls from six public government owned secondary schools in Ibadan, Nigeria. A structured self -administered questionnaire was used to collect data on socio-demographic information, GD, IPV and other factors that may expose an individual to IPV. Descriptive, bivariate and multivariate analysis were carried out at 5% level of significance. Results: The mean age of the study was 15.85 (SD=0.96). Three hundred and seventy -seven (96.7%) were Yoruba, one hundred and ninety-four (49.7%) reported to had ever been in a relationship, forty-seven (12.1%) reported to be homeless in the last 3 months. Three hundred and eight (79%) of the respondent reported GD of any forms. Among the one hundred and ninety-three respondent who had ever been in a relationship twenty- three (11.8%) had experienced psychological violence in their lifetime, fourteen (7.3%) physical and six (3.3%) sexual violence. Respondent who had ever been in a relationship (OR=12.46: 95% CI: 4.74-32.71); who had been homeless in the last 3 months (OR=3.78; 95% CI; 1.76-8.12) had higher likelihood of experiencing intimate partner violence. However, there was no association between GD and IPV. Conclusion: There is high prevalence of IPV and GD experience among the study population, which implies that there is a need for an educational intervention to reduce the vulnerability of adolescents to IPV.