Citation

Soumah MM, Diop O. Forensic Sci. Int. Rep. 2020; 2: e100109.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.fsir.2020.100109

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In Senegal, domestic violence is still considered a taboo subject. It is a private or family matter. Our objectives were to determine the frequency of domestic violence in Dakar, to identify the psycho-social profile of victims of domestic violence in Dakar, and to assess the quality of care for victims of domestic violence in health and legal structures.We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study on domestic violence against women in Dakar at the level of the general population.We found a total of 144 women victims of spousal violence in the last 12 months, or 56.92% of the population studied. The average age was 32, the median was 30 and the extremes were 17 and 58. Marriage was consensual in 99 victims (68.75%), arranged in 32 cases (22.22%) and forced in 13 cases (9.03%). 32 victims had one or more co-wives, i.e. 22.22%, while 112 victims lived in a monogamous household. Spousal violence was more common among women who had 1 or 2 children, with 33.33% and 25% of cases respectively. Emotional abuse was most common among 140 women or 97.22% of victims. Factors increasing the risk of violence in the couple identified are the young age of the woman and the couple and forced marriages. Factors decreasing the risk of violence identified are age over 45 years, duration of the couple over 20 years, number of children over 3, and living in a household with more than 5 people outside the couple.

Language: en

Keywords

Conflict; Control; Marriage