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Water Insecurity Associated with Gender-Based Sexual and Physical Abuse Experiences, in Tshumbe District, Sankuru Province, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: a Cross-sectional Study

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to evaluate the association between the water insecurity with physical, sexual, and emotional abuses among teenage and adult girls aged 16–27 years old from rural communities, in Sankuru Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted from June to July 2022 at rural communities of Djuwola and Yangi, in Sankuru Province. Multi-stage random sampling methods were used to select and enroll 277 study participants. A modified French translation of a NorVold Abuse Questionnaire (NorAQ) was anonymously administered to all participants. Multivariate analysis was performed to evaluate the association between water insecurity and the risk of gender-based violence against women.

Results

Respondents with high school level education presented less risk of severe, aOR 0.31 (0.13; 0.69), sexual abuse. Respondents aged 19–21 years old presented four times, aOR 4.04 (2.06; 7.94), and three times, aOR 3.18 (1.61; 6.29) the risk of being victims of moderate and severe sexual abuses, respectively. A significant association was found between living at more than 30 min of walking distance to the water collection points and moderate, aOR 2.71 (1.51; 4.96), physical abuse and for moderate sexual abuse, aOR 2.25 (1.13; 4.45).

Conclusions

Our study found that sexual and physical abuses are related to the age and education level of female respondents. Critically, a long distance from dwelling to water collection points is associated with greater degree of physical and sexual abuses. Improved sanitation systems increased women’s access to education and economic resources, and integrated violence prevention into existing programs could help to prevent different abuses.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the respondents who accepted to participate in this study. Our sincere gratitude also goes to the students of Notre Dame university of Tshumbe for their contribution in the data collection.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Notre Dame University of Tshumbe, Sankuru, Democratic Republic of the Congo

    Etongola Papy Steve Mbelambela & Ndjongandeke D. Olamba

  2. Healthcare Unit, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia, Jakarta, Indonesia

    Antonio F. Villanueva

  3. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

    Musembula H. Kelakela

  4. Department of International Trials, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

    Sifa M. J. Muchanga

  5. Kochi Medical School, Kochi University, Kochi, Japan

    Etongola Papy Steve Mbelambela

Authors
  1. Etongola Papy Steve Mbelambela
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  2. Antonio F. Villanueva
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  3. Ndjongandeke D. Olamba
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  4. Musembula H. Kelakela
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  5. Sifa M. J. Muchanga
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Contributions

E. P. S. M.: conceptualization, data curation, investigation, software, validation, formal analysis, methodology, writing original draft, writing review and editing, and approved the version to be published. A. F. V.: conceptualization, methodology, software, validation, interpretation of data, writing original draft, writing review and editing, and approved the version to be published. N. D. O.: design of study, investigation, methodology, revised the work and editing, and approved the version to be published. M. H. K.: conceptualization, formal analysis, methodology, writing original draft, review and editing, and approved the version to be published. S. M. J. M.: conceptualization, formal analysis, methodology, software, validation, writing original draft, writing review and editing, and approved the version to be published. All authors agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Etongola Papy Steve Mbelambela.

Ethics declarations

Ethical Approval

This study was undertaken in accordance with international bioethical standards, in particular, the Declaration of Helsinki. The Internal Ethical Committee of the School of Medicine, Notre dame University of Tshumbe reviewed and approved the study (approval number: 2021–04).

Informed Consent

All participants provided their informed consent prior to interview.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Mbelambela, E.P.S., Villanueva, A.F., Olamba, N.D. et al. Water Insecurity Associated with Gender-Based Sexual and Physical Abuse Experiences, in Tshumbe District, Sankuru Province, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: a Cross-sectional Study. Glob Soc Welf (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40609-023-00316-4

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