• Abigail M Hatcher, Heidi Stöckl, Ruari-Santiago McBride, Mzwakhe Khumalo, and Nicola Christofides.
• School of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California. Electronic address: hatchera@globalhealth.ucsf.edu.
• Am J Prev Med. 2019 May 1; 56 (5): 765-772.

IntroductionAlthough poverty is sometimes seen as a driver of intimate partner violence victimization, less is known about how it intersects with men's violence perpetration. Food insecurity is a sensitive marker of poverty that may have unique mechanisms leading to men's intimate partner violence perpetration given its association with gender roles and men "providing for the family."MethodsUsing cluster-based sampling, the team conducted an audio-assisted questionnaire in 2016 among men living in a peri-urban settlement near Johannesburg, South Africa. The aim was to examine the relationship between men's food insecurity and their use of past-year intimate partner violence, and to explore the pathways linking these two conditions.ResultsAmong 2,006 currently partnered men, nearly half (48.4%) perpetrated intimate partner violence and more than half (61.4%) were food insecure. Food insecurity was associated with doubled odds of intimate partner violence (OR=2.15, 95% CI=1.73, 2.66). This association persisted after controlling for sociodemographics, relationship characteristics, and neighborhood clustering. In a structural equation model, food insecurity retained a direct relationship with men's violence perpetration and worked through indirect pathways of mental health and relationship quality.ConclusionsAddressing men's perpetration of intimate partner violence may require examination of broader structural challenges, such as food insecurity. Future interventions should consider livelihood strategies alongside relationship and mental health approaches.Copyright © 2019 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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