Amoak Daniel, Antabe Roger, Sano Yujiro
Western University, London, ON, Canada.
University of Toronto Scarborough, Canada.
J Interpers Violence. 2025 Feb;40(3-4):955-973. doi: 10.1177/08862605241255731. Epub 2024 May 29.
Despite an extensive body of literature that explores potential mechanisms explaining the factors associated with intimate partner violence (IPV) experienced by women, very few studies have studied the association of food security status with women's experience of IPV in sub-Saharan Africa countries, including Cameroon. Using data from the 2018 Cameroon Demographic and Health Survey ( = 4,690), we explore the association between food security status and three distinct forms of IPV (i.e., emotional, sexual, and physical IPV) among ever-married women in Cameroon. Adjusting for socioeconomic, demographic, and attitudinal and behavioral characteristics, we found that women with severe (odds ratio [] = 2.09, < .01), moderate ( = 1.88, < .05), and mild ( = 1.76, < .05) food insecurity were more likely to experience sexual IPV, compared to those without any food insecurity, whereas women with severe food insecurity were more likely to experience physical IPV ( = 1.89, < .001). Although women with severe ( = 1.51, < .01) and moderate ( = 1.67, < .001) food insecurity had a higher likelihood of experiencing emotional IPV at a bivariate level, we found that these associations became no longer significant in our adjusted model. These findings suggest that food insecurity is a critical risk factor for IPV among ever-married women in Cameroon. Addressing IPV requires a comprehensive strategy that places special emphasis on households experiencing food insecurity. There is also an urgent need to implement educational programs to increase awareness of the interconnection between food insecurity and IPV and to allocate resources to community-based initiatives that empower women both economically and socially.
尽管有大量文献探讨了解释女性遭受亲密伴侣暴力（IPV）相关因素的潜在机制，但在撒哈拉以南非洲国家，包括喀麦隆，很少有研究探讨粮食安全状况与女性遭受IPV之间的关联。利用2018年喀麦隆人口与健康调查（n = 4690）的数据，我们探讨了喀麦隆已婚女性的粮食安全状况与三种不同形式的IPV（即情感、性和身体暴力）之间的关联。在对社会经济、人口以及态度和行为特征进行调整后，我们发现，与没有任何粮食不安全问题的女性相比，患有严重（优势比[OR] = 2.09，P <.01）、中度（OR = 1.88，P <.05）和轻度（OR = 1.76，P <.05）粮食不安全问题的女性更有可能遭受性暴力，而患有严重粮食不安全问题的女性更有可能遭受身体暴力（OR = 1.89，P <.001）。尽管在双变量分析中，患有严重（OR = 1.51，P <.01）和中度（OR = 1.67，P <.001）粮食不安全问题的女性遭受情感暴力的可能性更高，但我们发现，在调整后的模型中，这些关联不再显著。这些发现表明，粮食不安全是喀麦隆已婚女性遭受IPV的一个关键风险因素。解决IPV需要一项全面战略，特别强调那些面临粮食不安全问题的家庭。此外，迫切需要实施教育项目，以提高人们对粮食不安全与IPV之间相互联系的认识，并为在经济和社会方面增强妇女权能的社区倡议分配资源。
