Community Awareness of Domestic Violence in Arumeru District, Arusha, Tanzania

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.