Relationship between socioeconomic factors and prevalence of domestic violence in rural settings in Bungoma county, kenya

Abstract

Domestic violence prevalence remains high despite many mechanisms put in place to curb the crime. Domestic violence comprises criminal acts such as sexual abuse, physical abuse, psychological abuse, and even verbal assaults that are meted out against family members or intimate partners, mostly affecting women and children. Domestic violence is referred to as silent crime because most people in society do not report or talk about them. Despite the Government, interest groups, and Non-Governmental Organizations putting up strategies to help curb the high prevalence of domestic violence in rural settings, there is still a concern about tailoring measures that can effectively prevent this crime. The objective of the study was to investigate the relationships between social, economic, and cultural factors and the prevalence of domestic violence crime in a rural setting in Bungoma County, Kenya. The study was guided by the Broken Windows theory and Community Empowerment Theory. The study was conducted in Bungoma County. A correlational design was used. Bungoma County had a household population of 385,796 with 54 Police officers dealing with gender and children’s issues, and 92 chiefs. Household heads, police, and chiefs were selected as respondents for the study. A sample size of 388 respondents was selected for the study. A structured questionnaire and interview schedule were used to collect the data. Pilot testing was carried out using 39 respondents from the neighbouring Trans-Nzoia County, Kenya, to ensure the reliability of the research instrument. A reliability coefficient of 0.74 was obtained, indicating that the instrument that used was reliable for a study. Data was analysed using Spearman’s correlation analysis, X2 test and categorical regression analysis at 5% significance level using SPSS version 29 software. Qualitative data was analysed using narrative analysis to trangulate the relationship between selected socioeconomic factors and prevalence of domestic violence. With a correlation coefficient 0.010, there was no correlation between social factors and prevalence of domestic violence in rural settings in Bungoma County in Kenya. However, there were correlations between economic and cultural factors with prevalence of domestic violence in rural settings in Bungoma County in Kenya. The correlation coefficients of 0.452 and 0.776 of economic and cultural factors was found between prevalence of domestic violence respectively. The findings of this study can be useful to law enforcers, the criminal justice system, and policymakers like the legislature, households, and interest groups in determining how social, economic, and cultural factors relate to the prevalence of domestic violence in rural settings in Kenya. It was recommended that the criminal justice system, interest groups, law enforcers and household members to respectively involve the society through community based initiatives which aim at eradicating the negative gender norms that promote high prevalence of domestic violence, create awareness campaigns against negative cultural stereotypes that discourage the culture of reporting domestic violence cases and embrace gender equity by culturally promoting power balance within the households to reduce the high prevalence of domestic violence in the society.