Page 51 - IJPS-10-1

International Journal of

Population Studies

REVIEW ARTICLE
Social context of intimate partner violence and

system response during COVID-19 in Africa:
A scoping review

2
Ojo M. Agunbiade *, Akanni I. Akinyemi , Oluwaseun I. Obasola ,
1
3
2
Jacob W. Mobolaji , John O. Abe , Opeyemi O. Ekundayo , Taofeek K.
4
2
Aliyu , Olutoyin O. Ikuteyijo , Oladimeji R. Ogunoye , and Lanre O. Ikuteyijo 1
2
6
5
1 Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun, Nigeria
2 Department of Demography and Social Statistics, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun, Nigeria
3 Kenneth Dike Library, University of Ibadan, Oyo, Nigeria
4 Department of Psychology, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun, Nigeria
5 Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Swiss TPH, Basel University, Nigeria
6 Department of English Language, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun, Nigeria
(This article belongs to Special Issue: Population and Reproductive Health Dynamics under
Covid-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa)

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) stands as a global social and public health crisis deeply
rooted in extensive social and cultural contexts. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic
*Corresponding author: has disproportionately affected social interactions. This scoping review aims to
Ojo M. Agunbiade synthesize evidence on the social contexts of IPV and system responses to COVID-19
(oagunbiade@oauife.edu.ng) in Africa. Adhering to the Arksey and O’Malley (2005) approach, refined by the Joanna
Citation: Agunbiade, O.M., Briggs Institute (2020), this review encompassed relevant literature from bibliographic
Akinyemi, A.I., Obasola, O.I., databases, institutional websites, and electronic libraries from January 2020 to December
Mobolaji, J.W., Abe, J.O., Ekundayo, 2021. The search was executed in three phases across databases, including Social Science
O.O., et al. (2024). Social context
of intimate partner violence and Database and Sociological Abstract (through EBSCO), Africa Journal Archive, ProQuest
system response during COVID- (Coronavirus Research Library; Middle East and Africa Collection; Psychology, Sociology,
19 in Africa: A scoping review. and Social Science Database), and Google Scholar, also extended to the World Bank
International Journal of Population e-Library, the BBC portal, and pertinent websites. Briggs’s (2020) recommendations
Studies, 10(1):45-57.
https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.367 guided the screening, focusing exclusively on English language articles. Convergent
synthesis of extracted information utilized thematic analysis and, when applicable,
Received: September 19, 2022
descriptive statistics. Of the 14 articles meeting inclusion criteria, results revealed varied
Accepted: December 1, 2023 incidences of IPV during the COVID-19 pandemic, encompassing emotional, economic,
Published Online: December 29, 2023 and violence among minors. Women’s experiences of daily IPV realities during the
outbreak and lockdown hinged on contextual factors and relationship dynamics.
Copyright: © 2023 Author(s). Emotional and economic violence was predominant, with limited IPV cases among
This is an Open-Access article
distributed under the terms of the minors. State and non-state responses were inadequate, reactionary, and insufficiently
Creative Commons Attribution transformative for the complex emergency posed by COVID-19 on livelihoods and
License, permitting distribution, intimate relationships. Pre-existing IPV instances lacked sensitivity in the preparedness
and reproduction in any medium, and measures for gender inequalities within intimate relationships. While IPV was
provided the original work is
properly cited. reported, both state and non-state actors exhibited notably deficient responsiveness.
Publisher’s Note: AccScience
Publishing remains neutral with Keywords: Africa; COVID-19; Intimate partner violence; Lockdown measures; Social
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional contexts; System responses
affiliations.

Volume 10 Issue 1 (2024) 45 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.367