Mercilene Tanyaradzwa Machisa

Background Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is pervasive in Botswana. IPV stigma may affect the mental health of women survivors. We developed and validated a new scale for intersectional stigma for women who experienced IPV in Botswana. Methods We used a known-groups design. With interviews held in 2025 in urban and peri-urban areas with 217 women survivors and 183 women who reported no experience of IPV (non-reporters), we conducted psychometric analyses to develop and test an intersectional stigma scale; hypothesized positive convergence between scale endorsement and: commonly accepted IPV stigma scales; intensity of IPV experienced; harmful gender norms and beliefs; and symptoms of poor mental health. We tested for relationships using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient (𝜌) and report them as associations if statistically significant (p <0.05). Results Analysis identified the Botswana Culture-Salient Intersectional IPV stigma scale (BCSI-IPVSS), an 11-item, unidimensional scale for perceived stigma with good internal consistency (ω = 0.859) and fit (RMSEA=0.055; TLI=0.984) with observations. Its scale scores correlated positively with other IPV stigma scales (𝜌=0.24-0.40, p<=0.001). Among survivors, we found statistically significant associations between BCSI-IPVSS endorsement and abuse severity (𝜌=0.16), psychological maltreatment (𝜌=0.26), harmful community gender norms and beliefs (𝜌=0.52), and survivor blaming attitudes (𝜌=0.41). Greater perceived stigma also coincided with poorer mental health: generalized anxiety (𝜌=0.23), social anxiety (𝜌=0.26), depression (𝜌=0.36) and post-traumatic stress (𝜌=0.23). Among non-reporters, BCSI-IPVSS endorsement showed statistically significant associations with harmful community gender norms and beliefs (𝜌=0.45), survivor blaming attitudes (𝜌=0.3), generalized anxiety (𝜌=0.22), and low perceived social support (𝜌=-0.25), but not with social anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress. Conclusions The BCSI-IPVSS shows overall acceptable psychometric properties in the assessment of IPV stigma among both IPV survivors and non-reporters in Botswana. Future investigation is needed into the links between IPV stigma experience, holding stigmatizing beliefs and poor mental health. Clinical trial number Not applicable

Introduction: The way men are socialised into their masculine roles has been shown to contribute to male-perpetrated sexual violence (SV) against women students in higher education institutions (HEIs). Global North studies further emphasise men’s poor mental health and its intersection with the construction of masculinities as one of the risk factors for male-perpetrated SV against women. The purpose of this scoping review is to map out the literature on male college/university students’ poor mental health and links to their perpetration of SV against women students in Africa. Methods and analysis: For this scoping review, we will search for relevant studies from the following electronic databases: Scopus, ERIC, PsycINFO, PubMed, Web of Science and CINAHL. Furthermore, we will search for additional studies in Google Scholar and the Directory of Open Access Journals. Additionally, we will search for relevant grey literature. To search for articles in electronic databases, a combination of search techniques will be used, including phrase searching, Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT), Truncation, Wildcats, Field search, Proximity search, citation chaining and filters. The eligibility of studies for inclusion will be assessed through the population, concept, context (PCC) framework. Using the PCC framework, we will focus on studies which report on the mental health challenges experienced by male students (of any age) and SV perpetrated by male students against women students at HEIs (ie, colleges and universities) in Africa. We will only include peer-reviewed articles and grey literature from Africa published in English between 1995 and 2025. Empirical studies using any methodology, including qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods studies will be included. Once relevant studies have been identified, these will be charted. We will collate and summarise the data according to variation (breadth) and key components (depth), combining quantitative and qualitative syntheses. The findings will provide descriptive insights into the nature of research in this area, together with the drivers of, and linkages between male students’ poor mental health and their perpetration of SV. Ethics and dissemination: The scoping review will not require ethical approval because we will collate data from published peer-reviewed journal articles and grey literature that are already in the public domain; therefore, no primary data will be collected. The review results will be submitted for publication to an open-access, peer-reviewed journal. The findings will be disseminated on electronic and print platforms. There may also be opportunities to present the findings at conferences and South African government seminars. Study registration: Open Science Framework, https://doi.org/10.17605/oSF.IO/4KV8R .

Existing literature, primarily from high-income countries, highlights the first year of higher education as a challenging period for students. Academic demands, family expectations, social pressures, and relational difficulties are commonly associated with increased psychological distress during this time. In South Africa, research is mostly quantitative, lacking qualitative insights into the nuanced drivers of distress among first-year students, particularly young, female, and Black-African students. We aimed to explore drivers of psychological distress among Black-African first-year female students in South African universities and examine how they collectively influenced their mental health challenges. Fifty-four Black-African, female students aged 18–30years enrolled at three South African university campuses participated in three focus group discussions led by female researchers. The FGDs explored first-year students’ drivers and experiences of psychological distress while navigating the transition to university and their considerations around utilizing support services. We found that individual, peer, family, relationship, and institutional factors collectively contributed to psychological distress among students. Academic challenges including increased workloads and unfamiliar study methods, combined with struggle to secure residences, and social pressures to conform to peer lifestyles, exacerbated their distress. Financial distress, often intensified by delayed funding and family obligations like “black tax”, forced difficult choices and prioritisations. Additionally, controlling and emotionally abusive relationships, alongside partner infidelity, further undermined the students’ well-being. These interconnected stressors negatively impacted psychological distress which was aggravated by limited access to support services during the critical university transition. Findings suggest that first-year Black-African female students, especially those from low-income households, often experience psychological distress from intersecting academic, social, financial, and relational challenges. To improve wellbeing and academic success, universities must prioritise removing barriers to comprehensive support for first year students. Key actions include ensuring timely financial aid, expanding access to mental health services, academic orientation programmes, and implement initiatives that promote mental health, women’s empowerment and healthy relationships.

Purpose: Women often do not recognize when they experience attempted femicide, so another way of measuring it is needed for research. We examined narrative accounts of femicide attempts, and analysed data to determine whether we could systematically expand the definition of attempted femicide, for the purposes of research. Methods: We recruited a non-probability sample of 3742 women into the Fedisa ModikologoStudy. They were 18–45 years and had experienced severe intimate partner violence in the previous year. They completed an interview with two closed and one open question about attempted femicide experiences. Results: Strangulation, suffocation, stabbing, bludgeoning, gun shots, fire, mocked suicides and accidents were all used in attempted femicides, which 32.4% (1211/3742) of women said they had experienced. These were significantly more common among this sub-group of women. Gunshot injuries and loss of consciousness due to strangulation were the most strongly associated with a recognized femicide attempt, however other injuries were also associated. Assuming unrecognized femicide attempts were broadly similar, we conducted an analysis with recognized femicide attempts as a putative gold standard, and examined change in the sensitivity, specificity and ROC AUC of including different elements in the attempted femicide definition. After incrementally adding elements, we optimized the model with a sensitivity to 85.0%, specificity of 52.7% and ROC AUC of 67.1. Conclusions: Our findings point to a working definition of attempted femicide as having a recognized femicide attempt, or injuries leading to loss of consciousness, acts of strangulation, suffocation, gunshots, burns, or stabbing to the neck, torso or genitals.

This study investigated the prevalence of economic intimate partner violence (IPV) and its association with mental health outcomes among women in Gauteng Province, South Africa. Economic IPV, involving controlling behaviours related to employment, earnings, housing, and financial support, is a critical yet understudied form of abuse with potential impacts on women’s mental health. A secondary analysis was conducted using data from a representative survey of 491 women collected in 2010. Past-year economic IPV and other IPV forms were assessed through an adapted World Health Organization questionnaire. Depressive symptoms were measured by the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) scale, and suicidal ideation was assessed for the past four weeks. Multivariate logistic regression models adjusted for socio-economic status, child abuse, partner control, other IPV types, and life trauma were employed to examine associations between economic IPV, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation. Results showed that 9% of women experienced past-year economic IPV, 24.2% reported depressive symptoms, and 8% had suicidal thoughts in the prior month. After adjusting for confounders, economic IPV remained significantly associated with increased odds of depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation. Younger women (18–24 years) were more likely to report suicidal thoughts than older women. These findings highlight economic IPV as a significant and often overlooked form of abuse that co-occurs with other IPV types and has strong links to adverse mental health outcomes. The study demonstrates the need for integrated approaches that combine economic empowerment and mental health support within gender-based violence services in Gauteng, South Africa. Policies should prioritize accessible, youth-friendly interventions with an emphasis on early detection and support for vulnerable young women, including those out of school. Although the cross-sectional data limits causal inference, the evidence calls for ongoing community-based programs addressing economic abuse as part of comprehensive violence prevention and mental health promotion efforts.

In South Africa, after two decades of national femicide surveillance, we know comparatively little about what places women who experience intimate partner violence (IPV) at risk of intimate partner femicide. Further we have not mapped the multi-generational health, social and economic impact of severe IPV on women subjected to it, and their children, nor the consequences of help-seeking, nor described what helps, STET recovery trajectories. This study aims to deepen understanding of risk factors for femicide and the health, social and economic impacts of severe IPV on women and their families, including understanding risk and resilience to intergenerational cycling of violence. It further aims to describe how statutory and community measures operate to enable recovery and safety. Following pilot research, we developed a prospective questionnaire-based cohort study with three components, and plan for nested qualitative research. The primary cohort will enrol 12,000 women experiencing severe IPV, recruited using non-probabilistic methods (mostly referral from services and community members, and chain-recruitment). Following a baseline interview, participants will complete annual on-line surveys to track key outcomes for five years. The main questionnaire will measure exposure to range of different forms of IPV in the past year, lifetime trauma exposure history, childhood background, health, social and economic circumstances and help-seeking practices. A sub-cohort of the women (a 20% sub-sample), will be followed more intensively over 3 years. Among these, the children aged 6 years and over, of consenting mothers, will also be followed for three years. Deaths in the cohorts will be tracked through the National Population Register through participants’ national identity numbers. Mixed-methods verbal autopsies will be conducted with friends or family members of deceased participants. Results will guide femicide prevention nationally, and will build understanding of what is needed to prevent intergenerational cycling of violence and enable recovery of exposed women and children.

Purpose: Limited research has explored the impacts of family violence on early adolescent mental health and behaviour, in low- and middle-income countries. We examined the associations between family violence, adolescent mental health, and violent behaviours to identify potential pathways for disrupting the intergenerational cycle of violence, thereby addressing key evidence gaps in this area. Methods: Data was collected among 3756 learners, ages 11–16 years, participating in a cluster-randomized trial in South Africa. Descriptive statistics, bivariate regressions, and separate structural equation models explored pathways linking family violence to depressive symptoms (girls) and dating violence perpetration (boys). Results: We found gender disparities in family violence experiences and adolescent outcomes. Boys reported higher exposure to family violence, lower caregiver support, and more problematic behaviours than girls. While girls and boys showed similar depression rates, pathways differed. For girls, exposure to family violence, directly and indirectly, predicted depression through reduced parent–child connection, delinquency, negative school attitudes, and bullying. Boys' exposure to family violence predicted dating violence indirectly through depression, substance use, and delinquency, with depression also directly impacting substance use. Conclusions: Exposure to family violence and poor parent–child relationships significantly contributed to the onset of poor mental health, negative attitudes toward school, behavioral problems, and violence in early adolescence, potentially perpetuating intergenerational cycles of violence. These findings highlight the urgent need for multifaceted, evidence-based interventions designed to disrupt these cycles and improve early adolescent mental health and academic outcomes. Rigorous development and evaluation of such interventions are crucial, especially within the South African context.

The phenomenon of fathers refusing responsibility during pregnancy has not received adequate attention in African studies. This paper assesses associated factors and pregnancy-related outcomes when fathers refuse to support partners’ pregnancies and undertake parental responsibilities. A cross-sectional survey of 15–49-year-old postnatal (1–6 weeks) women was conducted at six urban health facilities in Harare. Participants were interviewed about their male partners’ refusal to support their pregnancies and parenting, bride price payments (indicating marriage commitment), partner violence and control, alcohol abuse and family planning decision-making. Pregnancy health outcome data including antenatal care attendance, low birth weight (LBW)(< 2500 g) and postnatal depression were collected through interviews and clinic records. Multiple regression models were built to assess gender-related factors and health outcomes associated with male partners’ refusal of parenting responsibilities. Of the 2042 women interviewed, 6.4% reported partner refusal to support the pregnancy or parenting. Higher odds of partner refusal of fathering responsibility were associated with partners not paying bride price (aOR 9.31; 95% CI 1.16–74.59), violence perpetration during pregnancy (aOR 2.84; 1.28–6.23), highly controlling behaviours (aOR 4.96; 2.83–8.69), alcohol abuse (aOR 1.78; 1.05–3.02), unintended pregnancy (aOR 3.72; 1.84–7.53) and partner refusal to use contraceptives (aOR 3.64; 1.86–7.14). Women who used contraceptives (aOR 0.40; 0.23–0.71), made joint (aOR 0.30; 0.14–0.67) or individual (aOR 0.25; 0.07–0.94) pregnancy decisions were protected from partner refusal of parenting responsibility. Women’s depressive symptomatology (aOR2.64; 1.52–4.59), LBW (aOR5.30; 1.18–23.74) and partner discouragement of antenatal care attendance (aOR 3.86; 1.13–13.17) were pregnancy outcomes associated with partner refusal of parenting responsibility. Male partners’ refusal to acknowledge parenting responsibility was associated with men’s abusiveness, absence of commitment to long-term relationship/marriage, gender unequal practices and negative maternal and child health outcomes. Parenting programmes must be instituted and prioritise transforming traditional gender norms to improve fathering responsibilities.