A later version of this article was published in M. Amutabi (ed) Politics of Development in Africa (pp: 255-265) Nairobi: CEDRED. 2018. Abstract Intimate partner violence [IPV] continues to be a public health problem that affects survivors, perpetrators, families, and the communities at large. This study assesses IPV among men and women aged 20-50 years in low-income urban areas in Francistown, Botswana. The study seeks to determine the prevalence, severity, types, and attributions of IPV in low-income urban areas. It draws its theoretical framework fundamentally from Heise's Social-Ecological model. A mixed method approach (qualitative and quantitative) was used for the survey. A sample of 102 respondents was sampled for the quantitative data using probability sampling techniques namely multistage cluster sampling. Results indicated that the lifetime prevalence of partner abuse in this study was 16.7%. Emotional abuse was the most prevalent type of abuse at 45%, and physical violence was the lowest at 14%. Results also indicated that women are more susceptible to violence than men are. Patriarchy was noted as one of the factors associated with IPV. Lastly, future research, policy direction and implications are discussed.

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