Violence against women in our world today, is one of the major, widespread, persistent and devastating fundamental human rights violations. It is being under-reported due to the impunity, silence, stigma and shame surrounding it. Such violence impedes on women’s fundamental right of bodily integrity and freedom from fear, it jeopardizes their basic human capabilities, and, as a result, undermines their ability to participate as full citizens in the economic, political and social life of their community. Consequently, children, families and the wider society are affected, thus, constituting a major barrier to the attainment of broader equitable and sustainable human development goals.1
Violence against women refers to violence that is directed towards women because they are women as well as violence that affects women disproportionately.2 It involves complex, dynamic and historically determined phenomena which is an evidence of unequal power relations that has its roots in primacy of males over females.3,4
According to WHO (2021)5, one-third (30.0%) women have experienced either physical or sexual violence from intimate or non-intimate partners and specifically, 27% of girls and women whose ages range between 15–49 reported being subjected to violence by intimate partners.
Trends of IPV across regions of the world ranged between lowest in Europe (25%) and America (30%) to highest in Africa (37%) and Asia (38%) (WHO, 2021).5 A systematic review study of prevalence of IPV in various SSA countries sourced from 25 studies reported a lowly 13.9% (95% CI 10.8, 17.6%)6 of a study among perinatal women with depression symptoms in South Africa to a highly 97% (95% CI 94.6, 98%)7 in a study of rural women in Nigeria and an overall meta-analysis estimate of 44.4% (95% 38.4, 49.8%).8
In Nigeria’s context, NDHS (2018)9 reported estimates of ever-married women’s current experiences of IPV as 36% and their respective experiences of physical, psychological, sexual constructs of violence as, 19.2%; 7.0% and 31.7% respectively. Other separate studies from Nigeria have published the prevalence ranges of recognised domains of IPV as 31 to 61% for psychological/emotional violence, 20 to 31% for sexual violence, and 7 to 31% for physical violence.10, 11
Primary prevention of intimate partner violence an offshoot of public health violence prevention approach focused on thwarting the occurrence in the first place. 12 This strategy has been widely acknowledged as most important compared to secondary or tertiary prevention strategies which had been receiving majority of resources. It evolves around deliberate and complementing efforts to create a generation of men, women, children, religious leaders and decision making institutions to take a common ground against unacceptable violence in the family.12
As teaching in the 21st century have created an opportunity for teacher to student relationship, it has been empirically confirmed to induce the concept of what constitutes increasing motivation and emotions essential to learning and teaching.13 In LMICs, teachers are potentially qualified to explore this philosophy in delivering knowledge of violence prevention and associated sexual and reproductive rights to young pupils through skills and passion. This might require further training to ensure success of the violence prevention program.13 The combined attributes of teachers’ experience of IPV, attitudes towards violence and sensitivity towards the topic will drive the success of violence prevention program in schools.13
Most importantly, impactors of knowledge to younger generation are critical and strategic partners in delivering the principles and goals of prevention interventions against violence on vulnerable individuals and populations. Female teachers experience of IPV and ability to define its types and underlying components as well as what triggers them essentially qualify them as change agents of re-orientation programs through school curricular activities aimed at ending the culture of violence in the society.14–16 Thus, this paper used principal component analysis to ascertain the components of IPV and the characteristics they embody among instructors of selected secondary schools in Osun state. This would be providing evidence-based information to decision makers to guide them in making far-reaching public health policy on gender-based violence prevention at the level of the state’s primary and secondary education system.
The study used principal component analysis to determine the psychometric properties of the WHO VAW instrument (semi-structured) administered on teachers in selected secondary schools in Osun state and to validate components derived with socio-economic, family, lifestyle characteristics of respondents’ partners.