Burden, trend and determinants of various forms of domestic violence among reproductive age-group women in India: findings from nationally representative surveys.

BACKGROUND: Violence, a notable human rights concern, has a public health impact across the globe. The study aimed to determine the prevalence and determinants of domestic violence among ever-married women aged 18-49 years in India. METHODS: Secondary data analysis with National Family Health Survey 5, 2019-21 data (NFHS-5) was conducted. The complex sampling design of the survey was accounted-for during analysis. The primary outcome was domestic violence. Prevalence was reported with 95% confidence interval (CI). Prevalence ratio was reported to provide the factors associated with domestic violence using Poisson regression. RESULTS: About 63 796 ever-married women aged 18-49 years covered under domestic violence module of NFHS-5 survey were included. Prevalence of domestic violence (12 months preceding the survey) was 31.9% (95% CI: 30.9-32.9%). Physical violence (28.3%) was the most common form followed by emotional (14.1%) and sexual violence (6.1%). Women with low education, being employed, husband being uneducated or with coercive behavior had significantly higher prevalence of domestic violence. CONCLUSIONS: One-third of the reproductive age-group women were facing some form of domestic violence. Target group interventions like violence awareness campaigns, women supportive services and stringent law enforcement should be implemented to eliminate domestic violence by year 2030.

Investigating the relationship between spousal violence against women and total fertility rate in Afghanistan.

BACKGROUND: spousal violence against women (SVAW) is a common form of violence that occurs within the family context, with spouses being the main perpetrators. Afghanistan has one of the highest rates of SVAW in the world, and its impact on reproductive health and fertility is not well understood. This study aims to investigate the extent to which SVAW influences the total fertility rate (TFR) of Afghan women. METHODS: In this study, a regression model of discrete-time survival models was used to calculate the total fertility rate (TFR), parity progression ratio (PPRs), and average closed birth intervals (CBI) between two children. The method used in this study has its roots in the works of Griffin Finney (1983) and was further developed by Redford et al. (2010). The study population utilized the 2015 Afghanistan Demographic and Health Survey, and sample weights were used to ensure accurate estimates for the population of Afghanistan as a whole. RESULTS: The study found that women in Afghanistan who have experienced SV are more likely to progress to the next parity, start childbearing faster, and continue to do so. Women who have not experienced SV tend to progress to higher parities at a slower pace during their initial reproductive years. The study also suggests that women with spousal violence (SV) experience may have slightly higher fertility rates and shorter birth intervals for certain birth orders, although the differences between the two groups are generally small. Specifically, the total fertility rate (TFR) for women who experienced SV was 6.9, while the TFR for women who did not experience SV was 6.2. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide valuable information for policymakers and public health professionals in developing effective policies and programs to address SVAW and improve maternal and child health outcomes in Afghanistan.

Prevalence and risk factors of physical violence against husbands: evidence from India.

As the proportion of women being victims of spousal violence in India is higher than men, laws are usually framed to safeguard women. However, men who have experienced physical spousal violence are not unheard of. The study aims to provide the nationwide prevalence of physical violence against husbands and the risk factors for such violence, using large-scale nationally representative 'National Family Health Survey' (NFHS 4) data. The study used descriptive, bivariate, logistic, and multilevel regression models with a random intercept clustering within states and households to explain the physical violence against husband. Sample size for the analysis was 62,716 currently married women aged 15-49 years. Findings revealed that in most of the states of India, physical spousal violence has increased over time. Behavioural characteristics like marital control, alcoholism, and childhood experience of parental violence have a consistent and strong role in explaining the experience of physical violence across states. With age, experience of violence against husbands increases. Differences in socio-economic characteristics do not have unidirectional effect on violence experienced by husbands across regions of India. Working women who are earning cash and having access to mobile phones perpetrate more physical violence in selected regions. Education shows a gradient on such violence perpetration, indicating that only after achieving a certain level of education, chances of violence reduce. Regionally contrasting social and economic risk factors in explaining violence strengthen the argument that violence is space and culture-specific, and development alone may not resolve violence unless the system is addressing the behavioural aspects. There is a need for supporting men experiencing domestic violence within the existing system facilities. Revisiting the present domestic violence laws and programmes for inclusivity is the need of the hour.

Risk Factors for Multiple Violations of Protective Orders in Intimate Partner Violence Against Women.

This study examined 1,134 cases of violence against women in intimate partner relationships with violations of protective orders in a monitoring period of up to 15 months. The dynamics of time and violence were analyzed in the cases of multiple violation versus one-time violation, with the objective of identifying and thus neutralizing the risk factors for this type of recidivism. The results showed that early violation, serious physical violence, death threats, as well as jealousy, harassment, and control are related to multiple violation. This article discusses the results in comparison with other research and proposes measures to avoid revictimizations.

MeTooMS: Sexual, physical, and emotional abuse experience among women with multiple sclerosis.

BACKGROUND: Sexual and physical violence against disabled individuals is widespread and linked to negative public health and social outcomes. The real-world prevalence of abuse in women with multiple sclerosis (MS) has not been well studied. OBJECTIVES: To explore abuse prevalence in a real-world cohort of females with MS attending an academic MS Center. METHODS: Prospective and retrospective abuse data were confidentially collected during neurology clinic visits and extracted from medical records for women attending an academic MS Center. Self-reported and provider-documented prevalence of abuse experiences were correlated with socio-economic and disease-specific factors. RESULTS: In total, 200 women completed prospective questionnaires, and 121 non-overlapping independent health records were retrospectively reviewed. Mean age (SD) was 49.055 (11.39). Seventy-six (38%) reported lifetime abuse incidents; 15% were abused within the previous year. Intimate partners were the most likely verbal (p ⩽ 0.01)) and physical (p = 0.04) abuse perpetrators. Neurologic disability correlated with greater likelihood of verbal abuse (p = 0.021) in prospective cohort. There was no billing or encounter documentation for any form of abuse. CONCLUSION: Intimate partner violence is common in women with MS, correlates with neurologic disability, and is underreported by the health system. Future research needs to focus on abuse detection and mitigation strategies.

Gender differences in the acceptance of wife-beating: evidence from 30 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization (WHO) has cited domestic violence as an urgent global maternal and child health priority. Gender differences in the acceptance of wife-beating have not been explored at the multi-country level in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where the occurrence of wife-beating (36%) is greater than the global average (30%). It is against this backdrop that we examine the gender differences in the acceptance of wife beating in SSA. METHODS: We used Demographic and Health Survey data from 30 SSA countries. Acceptance of wife beating among women and men was the principal outcome variable of interest. We employed Multiple correspondence analysis and logistic regression model as the primary estimation methods for this study. The descriptive statistics show that women had a higher acceptance rate (44%) of wife beating than men (25%). For the women sample, Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, and Guinea had higher rates of acceptance of the wife beating (80.6%, 78.4%, 77.1% and 70.3% respectively) For the men, only Guinea had an acceptance rate above 50 percent. RESULTS: We found that all else equal, women's acceptance of wife beating is higher for male-headed households than for female-headed households. Women without formal education were 3.1 times more likely to accept wife beating than those with higher education. Men with no formal education were 2.3 times more likely to accept wife beating than men with higher education. We found that polygamous women were comparable to polygamous men. Polygamous women were 1.2 times more likely to accept wife beating than those in monogamous marriages. Women were 1.2 times more likely to accept wives beating if they had extramarital relationships. Contrarily, men who engaged in extramarital affairs were 1.5 times more likely to justify wife beating. We also found that women's acceptance of wife beating decreases as they age. Men who decide on major household purchases and spending decisions on their earnings are more likely to accept wife beating. Corollary, women with similar gender and employment roles also accept wife beating. Finally, exposure to mass media is significantly associated with lower acceptance of wife beating for women and men. CONCLUSION: We conclude that women have a higher acceptance rate of wife beating than men in SSA. Acceptance of wife beating differs significantly by country. Given the same level of education, women are more likely to accept wife beating than men. If women and men have similar levels of employment and gender roles, acceptance of wife beating is higher when men make major household purchasing decisions and and it is still higher even when the woman makes these decisions. Acceptance of wife beating is higher among young women and men, the uneducated, those in polygamous marriages, women, and men who engage in extra marital affairs, poor households and in rural areas. The findings indicate the need for policies and programs by SSA countries to truncate the high acceptance rate of wife beating, especially among women.

What Is the Prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence and Traumatic Brain Injury in Fracture Clinic Patients?

BACKGROUND: Individuals in violent intimate relationships are at a high risk of sustaining both orthopaedic fractures and traumatic brain injury (TBI), and the fracture clinic may be the first place that concurrent intimate partner violence (IPV) and TBI are recognized. Both IPV and TBI can affect all aspects of fracture management, but prevalence of TBI and comorbid TBI and IPV is unknown. QUESTIONS/PURPOSES: (1) What are the previous-year and lifetime prevalence of IPV and TBI in women presenting to an outpatient orthopaedic fracture clinic? (2) What are the conditional probabilities of TBI in the presence of IPV and the reverse, to explore whether screening for one condition could effectively identify patients with the other? (3) Do patients with TBI, IPV, or both have worse neurobehavioral symptoms than patients without TBI and IPV? METHODS: The study was completed in the fracture clinic at a community Level 1 trauma center in Southern Ontario from July 2018 to March 2019 and included patients seen by three orthopaedic surgeons. Inclusion criteria were self-identification as a woman, age 18 years or older, and the ability to complete forms in English without assistance from the person who brought them to the clinic (for participant safety and privacy). We invited 263 women to participate: 22 were ineligible (for example, they were patients of a surgeon who was not on the study protocol), 87 declined before hearing the topic of the study, and data from eight were excluded because the data were incomplete or lost. Complete data were obtained from 146 participants. Participants' mean age was 52 ± 16 years, and the most common diagnosis was upper or lower limb fracture. Prevalence of IPV was calculated as the number of women who answered "sometimes" or "often" to direct questions from the Woman Abuse Screening Tool, which asks about physical, emotional, and sexual abuse in the past year or person's lifetime. The prevalence of TBI was calculated as the number of women who reported at least one head or neck injury that resulted in feeling dazed or confused or in loss of consciousness lasting 30 minutes or less on the Ohio State University Traumatic Brain Injury Identification Method, a standardized procedure for eliciting lifetime history of TBI through a 3- to 5-minute structured interview. Conditional probabilities were calculated using a Bayesian analysis. Neurobehavioral symptoms were characterized using the Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory, a standard self-report measure of everyday emotional, somatic, and cognitive complaints after TBI, with total scores compared across groups using a one-way ANOVA. RESULTS: Previous-year prevalence of physical IPV was 7% (10 of 146), and lifetime prevalence was 28% (41 of 146). Previous-year prevalence of TBI was 8% (12 of 146), and lifetime prevalence was 49% (72 of 146). The probability of TBI in the presence of IPV was 0.77, and probability of IPV in the presence of TBI was 0.36. Thus, screening for IPV identified proportionately more patients with TBI than screening for TBI, but the reverse was not true. Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory scores were higher (more symptoms) in patients with TBI only (23 ± 16) than those with fractures only (12 ± 11, mean difference 11 [95% CI 8 to 18]; p < 0.001), in those with IPV only (17 ± 11) versus fractures only (mean difference 5 [95% CI -1 to -11]; p < 0.05), and in those with both TBI and IPV (25 ± 14) than with fractures only (mean difference 13 [95% CI 8 to 18]; p < 0.001) or those with IPV alone (17 ± 11, mean difference 8 [95% CI -1 to 16]; p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Using a brief screening interview, we identified a high self-reported prevalence of TBI and IPV alone, consistent with previous studies, and a novel finding of high comorbidity of IPV and TBI. Given that the fracture clinic may be the first healthcare contact for women with IPV and TBI, especially mild TBI associated with IPV, we recommend educating frontline staff on how to identify IPV and TBI as well as implementing brief screening and referral and universal design modifications that support effective, efficient, and accurate communication patients with TBI-related cognitive and communication challenges. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level II, prognostic study.

Trends in attitudinal acceptance of wife-beating, domestic violence, and help-seeking among married women in Nepal.

This study aimed to assess the nature and magnitude of perceptions of wife-beating among women and men in Nepal and experiences of domestic violence (DV) and help-seeking among DV victims. The Nepal Demographic Health Surveys (NDHS) (2001, 2006, 2011, 2016) included questions on whether women and men justify wife-beating and whether DV victims sought help (NDHS 2011 and 2016). Covariates in regression models were guided by the socioecological model. We estimated odds ratios for dichotomous outcomes. Compiled data from Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys was used to understand trends. About 29.1% women justified wife-beating in 2001, 24.2% in 2006, and 29.1% in 2016. About 32.4% of women experienced any DV in 2011 and 28.0% in 2016. In 2011 about 21.8% of those abused sought help and in 2016 about 25.8% sought help. Women who justified wife-beating were more likely to experience DV in 2011 (OR 5.8, p < 0.001) and in 2016 (OR 1.5, p < 0.001) and less likely to seek help in 2011 (OR 0.3, p < 0.001) and in 2016 (OR 0.8, p < 0.001). Perceptions of wife-beating play an important role in actual experiences of DV and help-seeking behavior of DV victims. Societal and individual beliefs are intertwined, and cultural norms have a great bearing on these beliefs. Both individual and wider societal-level acceptance of violence needs to be addressed simultaneously.

Psychological consequences and daily life adjustment for victims of intimate partner violence.

INTRODUCTION: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a distressing reality worldwide. Victims of IPV usually experience long-term mental health disorders and maladjustments in their daily lives. AIMS: To examine the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder in female victims of IPV that participated in a public mental health care program, and to analyze the relationships between the type of IPV exposure, its psychological consequences, and daily life adjustment. METHOD: Up to 164 female victims of IPV referred by their primary care doctors to the Adult Mental Health Casntre of Sant Cugat del Vallès (Barcelona) between 2010 and 2016 were evaluated using several tests (Index of Spouse Abuse - ISA, Beck Depression Inventory - BDI-II, Sate-Trait Anxiety Inventory - STAI, the Maladjustment Scale - MS, and the Severity Symptom Scale for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder - EGS). RESULTS: Of the 164 referred women, 102 (62.2%) agreed to participate (mean age 44.98 years, range 19-71) and 73% scored above the cut-off point in the physical IPV dimension (ISA). Moreover, 73% had depression symptoms, 77% trait anxiety, and 87% state anxiety altered scores. Prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder was also high (87%). IPV interfered significantly in all the aspects of the daily lives of 92% of the sample. CONCLUSIONS: The participants of the study experienced many psychological symptoms and a high level of interference with all aspects of their daily lives. These consequences were of similar magnitude amongst victims of emotional abuse compared to those who suffered physical violence.

Nonintimate Polyvictimization and the Severity of Intimate Partner Violence Experienced by Men.

There is a dearth of research on the relation of men's cumulative experiences of nonintimate victimization (polyvictimization) to their victimization in intimate relationships. This study examines the association between nonintimate polyvictimization (including being abused as a child, cyberbullied, stalked, physically assaulted, and experiencing property crime) and the severity of intimate partner violence victimization in men. The sample of 8,784 men in current married/common-law relationships was drawn from a random sample of the 2014 Canadian General Social Survey. About 3% of the men (an estimate of about 265,000 men in Canada) experienced the most severe forms of partner abuse, including the combination of emotional abuse and controlling behaviors, physical violence, and the resulted injuries. Among these severely abused men, about one-third were polyvictims. As expected, a nonintimate polyvictimization predicted the increased severity of male partner abuse victimization, controlling for sociodemographic variables. These findings highlight the importance of preventing nonintimate polyvictimization of men that can help reduce their partner violence victimization.

Nurses' experiences of perceiving violence and abuse of women in Saudi Arabia: A phenomenological study.

AIM: To explore the practices, understanding, and experiences of nurses and nursing students about domestic violence and abuse in Saudi Arabia. BACKGROUND: Domestic violence and abuse is a well-known public health issue and a clear violation of human rights resulting in detrimental effects on women's health. INTRODUCTION: Societal and cultural barriers in Saudi Arabia limit women's rights and disclosure of violence within marriage and families, preventing access to health care and support. There are few reports of this phenomenon in Saudi Arabia. METHODS: We used a hermeneutic phenomenological approach to acquire in-depth insights into nurses' perceptions and experiences regarding domestic violence and abuse. Eighteen nurses and student nurses were recruited from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, using convenience sampling. Data were gathered between October 2017 and February 2018 through in-depth semistructured interviews, organized using NVivo 12 and analyzed manually to identify consistent themes. This study adhered to the consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research. FINDINGS: An overarching concept of "being disempowered" was identified, which was present at three levels: a lack of nurses' professional preparation, insufficient organizational structures and processes, and wider social and cultural components. CONCLUSION: This study provides an in-depth account of nurses' practices, understanding, and experiences of domestic violence and abuse, highlighting the sensitivity and difficulties of addressing the problem in hospitals across Saudi Arabia and potentially other similar countries. IMPLICATIONS: The study's findings will inform the development of nursing education and practice in Saudi Arabia, as well as pave the way toward formulating effective strategies with needed modifications in curriculum, organizations, policy, procedures, and laws.

Posttraumatic Growth in Women Who Have Experienced Intimate Partner Abuse.

The purpose of the current qualitative descriptive study was to describe the experiences of women who have endured intimate partner abuse using the theoretical framework of posttraumatic growth (PTG). Women (N = 14) who reported emotional and/or physical abuse by their male partners were interviewed. Five themes were identified: Acknowledging the Abusive Relationship; Fear of Him: Threats, Control, Pain, and Isolation; Accepting Support: Grabbing the Life Preserver; Rediscovering Myself: Digging Deep; and Appreciating Life and Helping Others. Findings have practical implications for nurses who are in pivotal positions to educate and influence others about the possibility of PTG following partner abuse. Nurses can help women find their way through this trauma and teach others about coping, healing, and recovery. [Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 61(8), 34-41.].

Injury and Sociodemographic Characteristics of Intimate Partner Violence in Women in Israel: A Single-Center Retrospective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Intimate partner violence is a growing public health concern worldwide, and nurses are uniquely positioned to help identify and refer patients for services. Yet, intimate partner violence injury patterns and characteristics often go unrecognized. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to explore injury and sociodemographic characteristics associated with intimate partner violence in women presenting to a single emergency department in Israel. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study analyzed medical records of married women injured by their spouse who presented to a single emergency department in Israel from January 1, 2016, to August 31, 2020. RESULTS: In total, 145 cases were included, of which 110 (76%) were Arab and 35 (24%) were Jewish, with a mean age of 40. Patients' injury patterns consisted of contusions, hematomas, and lacerations to the head, face, or upper extremities, not requiring hospitalization, and having a history of emergency department visits in the past 5 years. CONCLUSION: Identifying intimate partner violence characteristics and patterns of injury will help nurses identify, initiate treatment, and report suspected abuse.

Prevalence of children witnessed violence in a pediatric emergency department.

Witnessed violence is a form of child abuse with detrimental effects on child wellbeing and development, whose recognition relies on the assessment of their mother exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV). The aim of this study was to assess the frequency of witnessed violence in a population of children attending a pediatric emergency department (ED) in Italy, by searching for IPV in their mother, and to define the characteristics of the mother-child dyads. An observational cross-sectional study was conducted from February 2020 to January 2021. Participating mothers were provided a questionnaire, which included the Woman Abuse Screening Tool (WAST) and additional questions about their baseline data and health. Descriptive analysis was reported as frequency and percentage for the categorical variables and median and interquartile range (IQR) for quantitative variables. Mothers and children screened positive and negative for IPV and witnessed violence, respectively, were compared by the chi-square test or the exact Fisher test for categorical variables, and by the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test for continuous variables. Out of 212 participating mothers, ninety-three (43.9%) displayed a positive WAST. Mothers tested positive were mainly Italian (71%, p 0.003), had a lower level of education (median age at school dropout 19, p 0.0002), and a higher frequency of unemployment (p 0.001) and poor personal health status (8.6%, p 0.001). The children of mothers tested positive showed a higher occurrence of abnormal psychological-emotional state (38.7%, p 0.002) and sleep disturbances (26.9%, p 0.04). CONCLUSION: IPV was common in a population of mothers seeking care for their children in a pediatric ED. WHAT IS KNOWN: • Witnessed violence is a form of child abuse, usually inferred by their mothers' exposure to IPV. The latter is suffered by one in three women worldwide. WHAT IS NEW: • This study shows a 43.9% prevalence of IPV among mothers attending an Italian pediatric ED. • Positive mother-child dyads displayed a higher frequency of poor mothers' health status and children's abnormal emotional state and sleep disturbances.

Domestic violence experienced by women with multiple sclerosis: a study from the North-East of Iran.

INTRODUCTION: Violence against women is a significant health and legal problem and has been declared as a health priority by the World Health Organization. The most common type of violence against women is domestic violence, more prevalent against women with disabilities than other women. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating neurological disease and has experienced sudden growth in Iran. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of domestic violence and its various types (psychological, economic, physical, and sexual) experienced by women with MS. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 275 married women with MS were selected using convenience sampling. After obtaining informed consent and reviewing the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the Domestic Violence against Women Questionnaire developed by Mohseni Tabrizi et al. was completed by the participants on a self-report basis. The results were analyzed using SPSS software version 16. To analyze data, statistical tests including chi-square and Fisher exact tests for univariate analysis and logistic regression, were employed. RESULTS: The mean age of participants was 37.12 ± 8.48 years. Domestic violence in different forms of psychological, economic, physical, and sexual violence was present in 53.1%, 63%, 33.6%, and 20.4% of participants, respectively. Economic violence (33.8%) was the highest, and sexual violence (5.1%) was the lowest rate of severe violence among participants. There was a significant relationship between the overall rate of domestic violence and the variables including income (P = 0.013), spouse's income (P = 0.001), participant's job (P = 0.036) and participant's education (P = 0.001). In logistic regression, the overall rate of domestic violence was higher in participants with education less than a diploma than in participants with a diploma (P = 0.014) and participants with a university education (P = 0.016). CONCLUSION: According to the results, providing opportunities such as promoting the social status of women, fulfilling the rights of women with disabilities and debilitating diseases such as MS in society is recommended. Additionally, educating men about the negative impact of domestic violence on the current and future status of the family seems necessary. Providing counseling facilities on various forms of violence, especially domestic violence, for women with MS, is also recommended.

Screening for intimate partner violence during pregnancy: a test accuracy study.

BACKGROUND: Intimate partner violence (IPV) against women is a serious health problem that affects pregnancy more frequently than other obstetric complications usually evaluated in antenatal visits. We aimed to estimate the accuracy of the Women Abuse Screening Tool-Short (WAST-Short) and the Abuse Assessment Screen (AAS) for the detection of IPV during and before pregnancy. METHODS: Consecutive eligible mothers in 21 public primary health antenatal care centres in Andalusia (Spain) who received antenatal care and gave birth during January 2017-March 2019, had IPV data gathered by trained midwives in the first and third pregnancy trimesters. The index tests were WAST-Short (score range 0-2; cut-off 2) and AAS (score range 0-1; cut-off 1). The reference standard was World Health Organization (WHO) IPV questionnaire. Area under receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC), sensitivity and specificity with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated for test performance to capture IPV during and before pregnancy, and compared using paired samples analysis. RESULTS: According to the reference standard, 9.5% (47/495) and 19.4% (111/571) women suffered IPV during and before pregnancy, respectively. For capturing IPV during pregnancy in the third trimester, the WAST-Short (AUC 0.73, 95% CI 0.63, 0.81), performed better than AAS (AUC 0.57, 95% CI 0.47, 0.66, P = 0.0001). For capturing IPV before pregnancy in the first trimester, there was no significant difference between the WAST-Short (AUC 0.69, 95% CI 0.62, 0.74) and the AAS (AUC 0.69, 95% CI 0.62, 0.74, P = 0.99). CONCLUSIONS: The WAST-Short could be useful to screen IPV during pregnancy in antenatal visits.

Psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the Readiness to Encounter Partner Abuse Patients Scale.

AIM: Partner abuse is a global public health issue with both short- and long-term health effects. Healthcare professionals frequently encounter patients who experience partner abuse and should be knowledgeable about how to respond to these individuals. The aim of this study was to examine the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of The Readiness to Encounter Partner Abuse Patients (READI) Scale. DESIGN: A descriptive, methodological and cross-sectional design was used. METHODS: Data were collected with a sociodemographics form and the READI-T Scale between 13 December 2021 and 5 January 2022. The study sample comprised nursing students (n = 323) at or over the age of 18 years and accepting to take part in the study. The linguistic and content validity and confirmatory factor analysis were used to assess the validity of the scale. The reliability of the scale was achieved using Cronbach's alpha, item-total correlations and test-retest. RESULTS: The READI-T Scale had a content validity index of 0.99 and adequate sensitivity. The factor loadings ranged from 0.63 to 0.84 for the self-efficacy sub-dimension, from 0.82 to 0.91 for the emotional readiness sub-dimension, from 0.47 to 0.81 for the motivational readiness sub-dimension and from 0.28 to 0.64 for the partner abuse knowledge sub-dimension. The CFA showed that the model had a good fit (x2 /df = 1.792; GFI = 0.88; CFI = 0.94; RMSEA = 0.050). Cronbach's alpha was found to be 0.92 for the scale. CONCLUSION: The READI-T Scale is a valid and reliable tool to determine whether Turkish nursing students are knowledgeable enough to encounter partner abuse patients. IMPACT: This scale can be used to determine the training needs of healthcare professionals on partner abuse and may be useful as a pre-and posttest to determine the effects of partner abuse education programs. Thus, this scale may also assist early identification of persons who have a risk for partner abuse.

Determinants of wife-beating justification amongst men in southern African countries: Evidence from demographic and health surveys.

Domestic violence remains a major social challenge in many countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. This study aimed to identify factors associated with wife-beating amongst men and determine the levels of justification. Demographic and Health Survey data from four southern African countries were used. Using a weighted sample of 26 441 men aged 15-49 years; analysis was conducted at bivariate and multivariate levels. The results indicated that a quarter of study participants endorsed wife-beating for at least one reason. The most common justification for abuse was neglecting children and going out without informing the husband. These attitudes varied significantly among countries with the highest prevalence rates observed in Zimbabwe and Zambia. Education and household wealth were the most consistently significant factors across these countries. The study, therefore, recommends that education and household wealth be improved across these countries to reduce the incidence of wife-beating.

Spousal violence against women in Afghanistan: Bivariate mapping of correlates.

Spousal violence against women is endemic and owes its genesis to deeply entrenched socio-cultural norms. In this study 2015 Demographic and Health Survey data for Afghanistan was used to calculate the provincial prevalence and two correlates of spousal violence, and their bivariate mapping. Large differences were present in the provincial prevalence of spousal violence, having witnessed their father ever beat their mother, and acceptance of spousal violence by the currently or ever married women aged 15-49 years. In general, bivariate maps showed strong associations between spousal violence against women, its acceptance by women, and having witnessed their father beat their mother by ever married women. In an easily comprehensible manner, these maps underscore ensuring better quality of life in marital settings, higher and more equal social stature of women, and protecting their basic human rights would entail legal, social, and cultural paradigm shift.