Prevention of Domestic Violence against Women in sub-Saharan Africa: a library based evaluation of the effectiveness of health promotion strategies

Background: Domestic violence against women is a major public health problem that affects the physical, sexual, mental, and social wellbeing of more than one third of all women globally. Women in low resource settings including sub-Saharan Africa are at higher risk for domestic violence mainly due to prevailing gender inequity norms that promotes high acceptance of domestic violence against women. Therefore, this study evaluates the effectiveness of health promotion strategies in the primary prevention of domestic violence against women in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods: A systematic literature review of 11 studies (5 randomised controlled trials, 2 quasi-experimental and 4 qualitative studies) that met the eligibility criteria was carried out. The studies were primarily located using EBSCOhost (CINAHL Complete, CINAHL Plus with Full Text, eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), E-Journals, and MEDLINE with Full Text); PubMed; and Cochrane databases. Findings: The main findings of the review suggests that the effectiveness of health promotion strategies is to a large extent influenced by a combination of individual-, relationship-, and community- level factors including gender and community-based networks. Conclusion: It is therefore recommended that integrated economic empowerment and health education/training interventions that actively engage men alongside women should be incorporated into local, national and regional programmes for primary prevention of domestic violence against women in sub-Saharan Africa.