Exposure to pornographic material and perpetration of intimate partner violence among young men in Mwanza Tanzania

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a public health concern that negatively impacts women’s health. Preliminary evidence from high-income countries suggests that IPV is linked with exposure to pornographic materials among men, by encouraging negative norms of masculinity. To generate evidence from low and middle-income countries, we examined the relationship between frequent exposure to pornography and IPV perpetration among young men in Mwanza, Tanzania.

We conducted a cross-sectional survey among 1002 randomly selected young men aged 18 to 24 living in Mwanza, Tanzania.

Of the 828 ever-partnered young men included in the study, 396 (47.8%) reported viewing pornography in the past 12 months, with 14.1% viewing it at least once a week. In the last 12 months, 21.4% of participants reported perpetrating sexual IPV, while 43.2% and 15% reported to have perpetrated emotional and physical IPV respectively. After adjusting for covariates, exposure to pornography was significantly associated with sexual (aOR = 2.77 95% CI 1.51 – 5.08), emotional (aOR = 1.84 95% CI: 1.01 – 3.37) and physical (aOR = 1.65 95% CI 1.00 – 2.74) IPV perpetration.

Frequent exposure to pornography was associated with sexual, emotional, and physical IPV perpetration. Interventions to prevent violence against women therefore need to address men’s exposure to pornography.