Intimate partner violence (IPV) is the most prevalent type of violence against women. In addition to its inherent infringement on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, IPV victimization has been correlated with negative physical and mental health outcomes across the life course. Research also sheds light on the relationship between gendered attitudes during adolescence and young adulthood and outcomes across the life course. For example, attitudinal acceptance of patriarchal values among female adolescents—such as supporting men's perpetration of violence against women or divergent expectations for males and females—is associated with future exposure to violence, poor mental health, and adverse economic outcomes for female adolescents and young adults. Research further emphasizes that attitudinal acceptance of IPV is associated with victimization for women and perpetration for men.
Although a growing number of researchers have identified characteristics associated with attitudinal acceptance of IPV or inequitable gender roles in sub-Saharan Africa fewer have explored how gendered IPV attitudes might emerge and solidify alongside key life events or within specific subpopulations, specifically among adolescents and young adults in sub-Saharan Africa. Adolescence and young adulthood, defined for the purpose of this study as the transformative phase between aged 10 and 24 years, is a key stage of life during which knowledge expands, attitudes take shape, and lifelong behaviors emerge.