Citation

Krantz G, Nguyen Dang V. BMC Public Health 2009; 9(1): 143.

Affiliation

Dept of Community Med and Public Health, Univ of Gothenburg, Sweden; Dept of Demography, Faculty of Public Health, Hanoi Medical Univ, Vietnam; Div of International Health, IHCAR, Dept of Public Health Sci, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group - BMC)

DOI

10.1186/1471-2458-9-143

PMID

19442288

PMCID

PMC2689202

Abstract

BACKGROUND: It has been proposed that intimate partner violence is not a single phenomenon but consists of two distinct types of violence, defined conceptually in terms of the presence or absence of controlling behaviour in the violent member of the couple. Studies performed in high income countries support this hypothesis but no studies are available from a low income country. This study wanted to test this hypothesis in a low income setting focusing on men's use of physical/sexual violence with and without control tactics and resulting health effects in rural Vietnam. Of particular interest was whether men's controlling behaviour acted synergistically with physical/sexual violence to aggravate the health outcome. METHODS: In this cross sectional study data was collected among 883 married or partnered women aged 17-60. Structured interviews following a questionnaire developed for violence research were used. Control tactics were assessed by six items combined into a scale with Cronbach alfa of .80. Bi- and multivariate analyses were performed, including effect modification analyses. RESULTS: Of the participating women, 81 (9.2 per cent) had been exposed to physical and/or sexual violence in the past 12 months and of these, 26 had experienced one or more control tactics by their partner. Physical/sexual violence was highly associated with women's pain and discomfort (OR 3.40 (1.85-6.27) and with sadness and depression (OR 4.06 (2.40-6.88), while for suicidal thoughts control tactics were the strongest risk factor (OR 4.41; 1.95-10.02) when controlling for possible confounders. The combined effect of controlling behaviour and physical/sexual violence considerably elevated the risk of ill-health and synergy was present. Controlling men differed in terms of psychosocial characteristics and used more severe violence as compared to men not employing any control tactics. CONCLUSIONS: Physical and/or sexual violence is a serious threat to health in Vietnamese women, especially when combined with controlling behaviours. Health policy and programmes in Vietnam need to address the issue of violence as a most serious violation of gender equity ideas and as an unacceptable part of normal family life.

Language: en