DOMESTIC VIOLENCE; BALANCED EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM GHANA

Domestic violence is a worldwide phenomenon which is experience by both men and women. Globally, concerns about domestic violence have been raised (Fischbach R, 1997), which has led to the setting of goals at international conferences to fighting for a sustainable and equitable society, free from all forms of violence and oppression.
This study looks at violence (physical, emotional and sexual) against both men and women by their intimate partners. The study used the 2008 Ghana demographic and Health survey data with 732 and 1671 ever married male and females respectively in its analysis. The relationship between background characteristics of respondents and the three forms of domestic violence was also analyzed.
The result revealed that, 33%, 21%,6% of the females has ever experienced emotional, physical and sexual violence respectively with 24% and 11% of the men respectively ever experiencing emotional and physical violence. The result also shows that, a significant relationship exist between a man’s age and physical violence (p<0.05), a man’s level of education and emotional violence. There is a significant relationship between a woman’s level of education and her experience of emotional and physical violence (p<0.05). 8% males and 18% females has ever experienced multiple violence.