TY - JOUR PY - 2011// TI - What factors are associated with recent intimate partner violence? Findings from the WHO multi-country study on women's health and domestic violence JO - BMC public health A1 - Abramsky, Tanya A1 - Watts, Charlotte H. A1 - Garcia-Moreno, Claudia A1 - Devries, Karen A1 - Kiss, Ligia A1 - Ellsberg, Mary Carroll A1 - Jansen, Henrica A. F. M. A1 - Heise, Lori SP - 109 EP - 109 VL - 11 IS - 1 N2 - BACKGROUND: Intimate partner violence (IPV) against women is a global public health and human rights concern. Despite a growing body of research into risk factors for IPV, methodological differences limit the extent to which comparisons can be made between studies. We used data from ten countries included in the WHO Multi-country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence to identify factors that are consistently associated with abuse across sites, in order to inform the design of IPV prevention programs. METHODS: Standardised population-based household surveys were done between 2000 and 2003. Women aged 15-49 years who had ever had a male partner were asked about their experiences of physically and sexually violent acts. We performed multivariate logistic regression to identify predictors of physical and/or sexual partner violence within the past 12 months. RESULTS: Despite wide variations in the prevalence of IPV, many factors affected IPV risk similarly across sites. Secondary education, high SES, and formal marriage offered protection, while alcohol abuse, cohabitation, young age, attitudes supportive of wife beating, having outside sexual partners, experiencing childhood abuse, growing up with domestic violence, and experiencing or perpetrating other forms of violence in adulthood, increased the risk of IPV. The strength of the association was greatest when both the woman and her partner had the risk factor. CONCLUSIONS: IPV prevention programs should increase focus on transforming gender norms and attitudes, addressing childhood abuse, and reducing harmful drinking.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 1471-2458 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-11-109 ID - ref1 ER -