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This report presents results from a national study on intimate partner violence (IPV) in Malawi, detailing the locations, patterns, and demographics associated with economic, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. It highlights the prevalence of home-based violence, the role of alcohol, the impact of financial dependency, and the low rates of reporting due to cultural perceptions and lack of faith in the justice system.

• The home is the most frequent site for the most serious incidents of abuse, with 76.5% of physical abuse and 69.5% of emotional abuse occurring there. Other common locations include the abuser's home and public places, with up to 14% of emotional abuse incidents occurring in public. Additionally, 16 women reported that the most serious incident of physical violence occurred at school.
• Contrary to typical patterns of ongoing abuse, most women in Malawi reported that their experience of intimate partner abuse was a single incident. Only 39% of economic abuse, 38.3% of sexual abuse, 36% of emotional abuse, and 26% of physical abuse victims described the abuse as ongoing.
• There is a significant gap between what is considered acceptable and what is viewed as a crime. Many victims did not perceive their experience as legally wrong: 27% of sexual abuse reports, 19.5% of emotional abuse reports, and 17% of physical abuse reports were not viewed as crimes.
• Reporting rates are notably low, particularly for sexual violence, where 68% of women never told anyone. For physical abuse, over 40% of victims did not tell anyone. When reporting did occur, it was most frequent immediately after the incident for physical abuse (52%), but lower for emotional (48%) and financial (43%) abuse.
• Alcohol use is a significant factor in physical and sexual violence, with intoxication recorded in 36% of physical abuse cases and 33.2% of sexual abuse cases. In contrast, economic abuse had a lower association with intoxication (18.2%), as it is more likely to be an ongoing behavioral pattern.
• Abused women are often characterized by high financial dependency and low income. Roughly 60% of abused women earn less than MKw1,000 per month. Employment status varies by abuse type: those reporting economic and emotional violence were most likely to be self-employed (46% and 43%), while those reporting physical and sexual violence were more likely to depend on remittances (36% and 48%).
• The most common perpetrators are current spouses or partners, accounting for 58% of emotional abuse and 72.3% of sexual violence. Perpetrators are most frequently aged between 21 and 39 years, though there is a notably higher percentage of men under 20 years inflicting sexual abuse compared to other types of abuse.

APA

Institute for Security Studies (n.d.). -1. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/INTIMATESEC4.PDF

Chicago

Institute for Security Studies. -1. n.d. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/INTIMATESEC4.PDF.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Security Studies |title=-1 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/INTIMATESEC4.PDF |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforsecuritystudiesnd, author = {{Institute for Security Studies}}, title = {{-1}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/INTIMATESEC4.PDF}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }