Teachers are the most common perpetrators of physical violence among men and women who have never been married or had an intimate partner, according to a  new study shows by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).

According to the study, Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022, 44 per cent of men and 33 per cent of women who have never been married reported to have suffered physical violence from a teacher.

Other common perpetrators of physical violence that are cited in the KNBS report  include schoolmates/classmates at 22%, mother/stepmother and father/stepfather at 13.9 per cent and 13.5 per cent respectively. Victims were men who have never been married or had an intimate partner.

Among men who have ever been married or been in an intimate relationship, the most common perpetrators of physical violence were teachers (28%), followed by current wives/intimate partners (20%) and former wives/intimate partners (19%).

Women who have never been married or had intimate partners cited teachers as the key perpetrators of physical violence followed by mother/stepmother at 25 per cent, father/stepfather at 17 per cent and schoolmate/classmate at 14 per cent.

The report also shows that the most commonly reported perpetrator of physical violence among women who have ever been married or ever had an intimate partner was their current husband or intimate partner (54%), followed by a former husband/intimate partner (34%).

The 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey, the seventh of its kind to be released in the country, aims to provide up-to-date estimates of demographic, health, and nutrition indicators to help with population and health-related program planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation at the national and county levels.

The goals include estimating fertility rates, determining the country’s prevalence of contraception, reducing childhood mortality, improving children’s nutrition, and examining the dietary diversity of women.

The report also seeks to obtain information on knowledge and behavior related to the transmission of HIV and other Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and ascertain the extent and patterns of domestic violence and female genital mutilation/cutting.

The sample was designed to include 42,300 households, with 25 households chosen for each cluster, for a total of 1,692 clusters spread across the country, with 1,026 clusters in rural areas and 666 in urban areas.

FGM prevalence drops to 15%

The prevalence of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Kenya has declined from 38 percent in 1998 to 15 percent in 2022, according to the survey by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.

Additionally, the survey shows that the prevalence of FGM generally increases with age, with 9 percent of women aged 15-19 having been circumcised, compared with 23 percent of women aged 45-49.

FGM is prohibited in Kenya under the Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act 2011 and the Children’s Act 2022.