Like a Caged Bird: The Coping Strategies of Economically Empowered Women Who Are Victims of Intimate Partner Violence in Bangladesh

"Being My Own Pillar of Support": How Palestinian-Arab Women Citizens of Israel Cope With IPV

Studies on the ways in which women implement coping strategies to recover from intimate partner violence have primarily focused on Western, non-collectivistic societies. To contribute to the scant literature on coping strategies among women in traditional-collectivistic societies, the current study applied the principles of Clinical Ethnographic Narrative Interview to analyze the experiences of 15 Palestinian-Arab citizens of Israel as these women confronted violence within marriage. This exploration is situated within the backdrop of entrenched collectivistic traditional norms and the broader context of the enduring Israeli-Arab conflict. An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis revealed three themes that translated into a transformative three-phase coping model. The first theme covers navigating violent relationships through avoidance, emotional encapsulation, and cognitive reframing. The second theme describes strategies to mitigate violence and its consequences, including escapist and immediate departure, sustained fulfillment of duties, and maintaining hope amid adversity. The third theme characterizes strategies aimed at achieving self-care and self-empowerment. The findings highlight the importance of acknowledging women's definition of coping and recovery within their cultural constraints as they chart their coping trajectories.

Association between intimate partner violence during pregnancy and risk of preterm birth

Background

Preterm birth is a risk factor for child survival in both the short and long term. In Zimbabwe, the prevalence of preterm birth is rising, and there are growing concerns about the adverse consequences. This study explored the association between intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy and preterm birth in Zimbabwe.

Methods

Using data from the 2015 Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey, we applied propensity score matching to estimate the effect of IPV during pregnancy on preterm birth among women of reproductive age (15–49 years). A total of 4833 pregnant women who gave birth during the five years preceding the survey were analysed.

Results

We successfully matched 79 women who were exposed to IPV during pregnancy to 372 unexposed during pregnancy. Using the matched sample, the probability of preterm delivery was significantly higher among women who were exposed to IPV during pregnancy than those who were not exposed. The findings showed that 7 out of 79 (8.9%) of women exposed to IPV during pregnancy experienced preterm delivery, and 11 out of 372 (3.0%) of those who were not exposed to IPV during pregnancy experienced preterm delivery. In the urban areas, those exposed to IPV during pregnancy were almost five times more likely to experience preterm delivery (OR = 4.8, 95% CI 2.0–11.6), but the association was not significantly different among women in rural areas.

Conclusion

The findings showed that women exposed to IPV during pregnancy were at increased risk of preterm birth. Some of the risk factors associated with IPV were urban residence, low economic status and unemployment. Effective policies and programmes are required to address the issue of IPV in Zimbabwe.