Association between intimate partner violence and nutritional status of married Nepalese women

Factors associated with non-help-seeking among women victims of physical or sexual intimate partner violence in Peru: Findings from the National Demographic and Family Health Survey, 2017 to 2019

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the factors associated with non-help-seeking in victims of physical or sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) in Peru.

METHODS

This was an analytical cross-sectional study of 3-year data from the Peruvian Demographic and Health Survey. The sample comprised women aged 18 to 49 who had experienced physical or sexual IPV at some time in their lives. The dependent variable was non-help-seeking after suffering physical or sexual IPV. Adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) with their 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated to assess the factors associated with non-help-seeking. In addition, a sensitivity analysis was carried out in which only women who suffered physical or sexual IPV in the last year were considered.

RESULTS

Data from 15,265 female victims of physical or sexual IPV were analyzed. It was found that 57.4% did not seek help after suffering physical or sexual IPV. The main reasons for non-help-seeking included thinking it was unnecessary (42.3%) and embarrassment (14.9%). Age between 30 and 49 years old (PRa:1.15; 95%CI [1.06, 1.25]) and residing in a rural area (PRa:1.07; 95%CI [1.00, 1.13]) were associated with a higher probability of non-help-seeking. On the other hand, having a secondary education level (PRa:0.91; 95% CI [0.86, 0.97]) or higher (PRa:0.90; 95%CI [0.82, 0.99]), having a partner who drinks alcohol (PRa:0.94; 95%CI [0.89, 0.99]), having experienced physical or sexual IPV during a pregnancy (PRa:0.87; 95%CI [0.80, 0.94]), and having experienced moderate (PRa:0.81; 95%CI [0.76, 0.86]), or severe physical or sexual IPV (PRa:0.74; 95%CI [0.67, 0.82]), were associated with a lower probability of non-help-seeking. These associations were consistent in the sensitivity analysis.

CONCLUSION

Half of the women who experience physical or sexual IPV do not seek help. There are sociodemographic factors related to this non-seeking of help that are useful for identifying and prioritizing interventions to reduce IPV and improve the health status of women.

Social networks and gender inequitable attitudes among men and women in rural Nepal

Gender-inequitable attitudes are known factors associated with women's experience of intimate partner violence (IPV). The current study aims to identify social network factors associated with gender-inequitable attitudes among men and women in Nepal. Data came from the baseline assessment for evaluating Change Starts at Home- an IPV prevention intervention in rural Nepal (N = 1994). Linear regression models adjusted for participant demographics provided the associations between participants' gender-inequitable attitude scores (GIAS) and their social network characteristics. Results show that women who nominated their parents (beta = -1.29) or neighbours (beta = -1.18) had better GIAS while those nominating their brother-in-law/sister-in-law (beta = 0.36) had worse GIAS. Men with higher degree (beta = -0.27) and those who nominated their spouse (beta = -0.75) had better GIAS. Women's GIAS was strongly associated with their alters' when the alter was within their household, had a closer relationship, or the alter was male. Men's GIAS was strongly associated with their alters' attitudes when the alter was not from the same household or if they had a weak tie. Findings indicate that IPV prevention programmes must consider men's and women's network characteristics separately. For example, interventions for women should focus on relationships within their households, while interventions for men should focus on relationships outside their households.

Association between intimate partner violence and nutritional status among Indian women: a latent class analysis approach

BACKGROUND

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is an unabating public health issue that has numerous negative repercussions for women's health. Its detrimental impact on women's nutritional outcomes has been documented in a few studies from low- and middle-income countries; however, there is a lack of granular understanding in terms of the typology of IPV experiences and their association with nutritional outcomes. This study explores the distinct classes of IPV experience among women in India and examines how these classes are associated with their nutritional outcomes.

METHODS

Using data of 60,622 ever-married women aged 15-49 years from the 2019-21 National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), latent class analysis (LCA) was performed to identify distinct groups of women based on their IPV experiences. BMI was used to assess women's nutritional status, and it was classified as: <18.5 kg/m2 (underweight), 18.5-24.9 kg/m2 (normal) and ≥ 25.0 kg/m2 (overweight). Further, multinomial logistic regression analyses were used to estimate the odds of being underweight or overweight by latent classes of IPV experiences.

RESULTS

LCA model identified four distinct IPV experience groups of women: Low Physical and Low Sexual IPV (LPLS-IPV) class (72%); High Physical and Low Sexual IPV (HPLS-IPV) (12.5%); High Sexual and Low Physical IPV (HSLP-IPV) (12%); and High Physical and High Sexual (HPHS-IPV) class (3.5%). The likelihood of being underweight was higher among women in the HPHS-IPV class (aOR: 1.24, 95% CI: 1.08-1.44), followed by those in the HPLS-IPV class (aOR: 1.11, 95% CI: 1.04-1.20).

CONCLUSION

The latent class groups found that high physical IPV experiences were associated with women's nutritional outcomes. The experiences of women having both high physical and sexual violence affect women's nutritional outcomes to a greater extent and they are more likely to be undernourished.