A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT OF SOKOINE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE. MOROGORO, TANZANIA.Gender Based Violence and income poverty are the major social and economic problems affecting women in African countries including Tanzania. Cultural factors are believed to exacerbate the problem. The study from which this dissertation is based was conducted to explore the link between domestic violence and household income poverty in the district. Specifically, the study assessed the extent of domestic violence against women and women’s perception about domestic violence. The study also examined the extent of income poverty, and determined relationships between domestic violence and household income among communities. A cross-sectional research design was employed whereby a questionnaire was administered to100 respondents.SPSS Version 16 was used to analysethe datadescriptively and inferentially. The results showed that the extent of domestic violence against women was high as slightly more than half (57.8%) of the women interviewed reported to be affected bydomestic violence. However, the results alsoshowed that 54.0% of the womenhad positive perception towards domestic violence. Also, it was found that 31.0% of the respondents were poor, while 43.1% of the respondents had an income belowTZS50 000per year, which is far below the national poverty line of TZS 437784 per adult equivalent per year, indicating that they were experiencing high income poverty. Domestic violence had no significant relationship with household income at p>0.05, which means that domestic violence was not necessarily a cause of income poverty. That means domestic violence can occur to women of all levels of all economic statuses. Therefore,the null hypothesis was accepted and the alternative hypothesis was rejected. The recommendations from the study are the communities through Government and NGOs should create awareness to both men and women on the negative consequences of domestic violence. They should also be in a position to dispel customs and beliefs that nurture and condone domestic violence.