Page 53 - IJPS-10-1

International Journal of
Population Studies IPV during COVID-19 in Africa

Africa at 44% (Muluneh et al., 2020). Moreover, variations 2. Data and methods
exist across countries in sub-Saharan Africa regarding
the prevalence of IPV, ranging from approximately 30% The review was conducted following suggested refinements
to nearly 60% (Bamiwuye & Odimegwu, 2014). The to earlier approaches, as outlined in the Methodological
conducive environment for IPV in Africa suggests that the Guidance for Scoping Review by the Joana Briggs Institute
region may be disproportionately affected due to inherent (Peters et al., 2020). The refined suggestions allowed the
deficiencies in social institutions and the excruciating use of a mixed-method approach in the extraction and
effects of the political economy on households and synthesis of the evidence, as well as in presenting the results
relationship networks. In many African communities, from the review. The research questions for this review were
patriarchal beliefs, values, and expectations may exacerbate designed to understand the social contexts representing
the settings of IPV occurrence, considering factors such
the gendered nature of IPV, with women often emerging as the gender dynamics of the partners involved, their
as the primary victims. Gender inequalities, low women’s marital status, and the geographical space of occurrence
status (Oyediran & Feyisetan, 2017), poverty, a low level of
education, and issues such as drunkenness are commonly (Africa). In addition, the questions sought to understand
associated with men who perpetrate various forms of the meanings attached to such forms of violence among
gender violence across African communities (McCloskey the social actors involved and the subsequent reactions
et al., 2016). or actions. In terms of actions, the focus leaned toward
formal, institutional, or system responses, as opposed to
Comparatively, Africa lags in sufficient and synthesized the expected or unexpected reactions that IPV occurrences
evidence on the impacts of COVID-19 on social attract. Specifically, attention was given to the types and
relationships, the inherent institutional and structural forms of support available in the settings where cases
weaknesses, and the attendant effects on well-being and of IPV were reported, the frequency of access, and the
inequalities on the continent. Organized evidence is perceived relevance of available support within existing
needed to expand the frontiers of knowledge, policy, and systems. The evidence syntheses from the selected articles
practice. The immediate relevance of this form of evidence and documents also used a broad sense of categorization
is critical, considering the unappreciated isolation of system response.
and the “stay at home” orders issued by most African
countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is unclear 2.1. Search strategy
how these measures influenced the contexts, incidence, An information scientist with relevant expertise structured
and prevalence of IPV in Africa. What could be used as the search strategy with input from the lead author and
evidence during these times was also limited by the lack three other authors of the present article. The inclusion
of nationwide surveys, places where evidence could be and exclusion criteria were discussed iteratively among all
collected, and the need for social distance and isolation. authors to ensure clarity in the screening and extraction
Despite these limitations, a scoping review that adopts of relevant information. The search strategy was executed
mixed methods with a convergence orientation will help in phases to encompass both published and unpublished
bridge existing knowledge gaps. We hope that this review literature from a wide range of sources (bibliographic
will show how systems, including those of state and non- databases, institutional websites, and electronic libraries).
state actors, have responded to the rise in IPV cases, as well The employed search techniques included conventional
as the nature of the measures, interventions, and policies subject searching, reference list checking, citation
that were introduced in response to vulnerabilities during searching, and direct contact with subject matter experts.
the period.
Our initial searches traversed the Coronavirus Research
1.2. Research questions Library; Middle East and Africa Collection; Psychology,

The review was guided by questions that can facilitate Sociology, and Social Science Database (through
evidence mapping and synthesis on IPV’s occurrence ProQuest), Academic Search Complete, Africa-Wide,
within the period under consideration and the responses Medline Complete (all through EBSCO), and Google
from state and non-state actors. The specific questions are Scholar. Text words present in the titles and abstracts of the
as follows: first, did COVID-19 increase cases of IPV in search results were analyzed to identify keywords within
Africa? Second, what was the response system to IPV in both natural language and controlled vocabulary. This
the settings from which the articles and reports emanated? process facilitated the development of a list of general and
Finally, are there concrete systemic intentions to modify sub-categories of terms pertaining to IPV and COVID-19.
or design an emergency response framework that can be The terms generated through the process were carefully
deployed and accessed by those in need? applied in searching selected bibliographic databases

Volume 10 Issue 1 (2024) 47 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.367