Co-Occurring Intimate Partner Violence and Child Abuse in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo: The Influence of Early Life Experiences of Abuse

Abstract

Little is known about co-occurring intimate partner violence (IPV) against women and child abuse within families in humanitarian settings. Baseline data from 203 couples in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo were analyzed to assess associations between childhood experiences of abuse with present co-occurring violence. Over half of women (56.1%) and men (50.5%) reported co-occurring violence. Adjusted models demonstrate experiencing physical abuse as a child was associated with greatest odds of recent co-occurring violence while witnessing parental IPV had mixed influence. Programmatic approaches focused on reducing early childhood violence may be promising to prevent both IPV and child abuse.