Intimate partner violence and its associated factors among married women with and without podoconiosis in Boreda district, Gamo zone, southern Ethiopia, 2024:  a comparative cross-sectional study

Background Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious public health and human rights violation which impacts approximately one in three women worldwide. Disabilities are 1.5 times more likely to be victims of violence than those without a disability. Some existing evidence suggests that women with disabilities are at higher risk of IPV. However, in endemic areas of neglected disabilities such as Podoconiosis and lymphatic filariasis (LF) there is limited evidence in Ethiopia. Objective To assess the prevalence of intimate partner violence and its associated factors among married women with and without Podoconiosis in Boreda district, Gamo zone, southern Ethiopia, 2022. Method An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 403 mothers who were enrolled from December 1, 2022, to January 30, 2023. The total sample size was allocated proportionately to the number of women attending antenatal care at each public health facility. Thus, simple random sampling was applied. Kobo Toolbox was used for data collection and cleaning, which was then analyzed using IBM SPSS Version 25. Statistical significance was determined at a p -value of less than 0.05. Result In this study area, the prevalence of intimate partner violence among married women was 248(63.9%) (95% CI: 47.3–72.1). The associated factors of intimate partner violence were women from food insecure household ((AOR = 1.54, 95%CI (1.36–9.14)), non-autonomous women in decision making (AOR = 2.18, 95%CI (1.13–4.22)), low wealth index (AOR = 2.35, 95% CI ((1.03–4.29)), and having low social support (3.41, 95% CI ((1.20–9.67)). Conclusion The prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence was found high in Boreda district. There is a need of giving special attention for women living in rural area, Measures should be taken to raise community awareness, particularly among intimate partners, their families, and government officials. Therefore, it is essential to greatly empower women to increase women’s participation in decision making with resources and provide them significant prestige in the home.