Biography
Rehema John Magesa is a lecturer in gender and research studies. She has been a lecturer for over 15 years at the Tengeru Institute of Community Development under the Gender and Development Department. The modules taught include Research Methodology for diploma and bachelor's degree students. Different gender modules include gender and culture, gender analytical frameworks, gender resource management, and gender mainstreaming. Rehema's research theme is focused on gender and human rights, where she has conducted research on human trafficking, gender-based violence, violence against children and education. The results of her research have been published in different national and international peer-reviewed journals. More than 20 articles have been published in these journals. Rehema holds a PhD in Gender studies from the Open University of Tanzania, preceded by a Master of Arts in Development Studies (Antwerp University, Belgium) and a Master of Science in Agriculture (Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania). She also holds a Bachelor's in Agriculture from Sokoine University of Agriculture.
Abstract
Domestic violence continues to be prominent among many communities worldwide despite different efforts and strategies geared towards eradicating it. Women and girls are among the main victims of this violence. Lack of or limited awareness of the problem perpetuates the problem. However, much of the levels of awareness of the problem are lacking. This study aimed to establish community awareness of domestic violence and the levels of awareness and determine the association between respondents' characteristics and the level of awareness of gender-based violence. The study employed both probability and non-probability sampling techniques to acquire the respondents. One hundred women and men respondents were surveyed using simple random sampling. Data collection tools for this study included a questionnaire and an interview. The research study found that more than half (56.0%) of the total respondents were not aware of domestic violence practices. Twenty-six percent of the respondents had low awareness, 11% had moderate awareness, and only 9% of the respondents had high awareness of domestic violence. After the respondents' awareness levels were determined, the study investigated whether there was an association between the sex, age, and education level of the respondents and their awareness level. The findings showed that it is evident that sex, age, and education level were significant influences on the level of awareness of domestic violence among the respondents. There was an association between sex (ꭓ²=14.07, p<0.007), age ((ꭓ²=27.32, p<0.043) and education ((ꭓ²=34.72, p<0.001) on community awareness of domestic violence. Respondents have limited awareness of domestic violence despite government and stakeholder efforts to combat the violence.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Magesa, Rehema JOHN (2024) "Community Awareness of Domestic Violence in Arumeru District, Arusha, Tanzania," Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence: Vol. 9: Iss. 1, Article 6. https://doi.org/10.23860/dignity.2024.09.01.06
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