The role of adverse childhood experiences in predicting child abuse perpetration among married mothers in Alexandria, Egypt: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are receiving increased amounts of attention as a critical public health issue. ACEs have a massive impact on future violence victimization and perpetration. They are also associated with lifelong mental and physical health consequences as well as premature mortality. The present study aimed to investigate the role of different ACEs among married mothers in predicting the risk of child abuse perpetration in offspring. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 350 mothers of children aged 2-12 years attending family health centres in Alexandria. The mothers completed a predesigned interview questionnaire on sociodemographic data and data related to ACEs, spousal violence, and child abuse perpetration. Suitable bivariate and multivariate statistical tests were used to analyse the collected data using version 20.0 of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). RESULTS: Two-thirds of mothers (66.3%) reported ever having been exposed to any ACE, and 18.6% of them had experienced 3 or more ACEs. Psychological abuse (46%) and witnessing domestic violence (17%) were the most common. Psychological aggression (95.4%), minor physical assault (79%), and neglect (52%) were the most common forms of child abuse perpetrated by the mothers. The number of ACEs experienced by mothers showed a moderate positive significant correlation with the 5 forms of child abuse examined. Different ACEs, mother's age, socioeconomic status, and current exposure to spousal violence were found to be independent predictors of different forms of child abuse (psychological aggression, neglect, minor physical assault, and severe physical assault). CONCLUSION: Different practices of family violence are strongly connected throughout different stages of an individual's life and across generations. Further understanding of the interconnections among forms of violence and addressing them should be prioritized. Additionally, concerted national strategies across all levels and sectors are needed to address this complex problem.

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.

Experiences and Expectations of Battered Women: A Mixed Method Study Among Women Living in Shelters in Ankara, Turkey.

Violence against women is a global problem. The current mixed-method study examined the relationship of battered women with primary care physicians (PCPs) and their thoughts on primary health care. In-depth interviews were conducted with 55 participants, using a semi-structured interview approach between April 1 and May 31, 2019, in women's shelters managed by municipalities in Ankara, Turkey. The study results showed that only 11% of the participants told their PCPs that they were exposed to violence. The most common reasons for not sharing this information were shame, lack of communication, concerns about confidentiality, and the thought that the subject was beyond the scope of the PCP. PCPs have a front-line role in recognizing domestic violence and triggering support systems for battered women.

Magnitude of Spousal Violence and Associated Factors among Midlife Women in Ethiopia.

Background: Intimate partner violence is the most common form of gender-based violence and has enormous maternal health consequences. There is limited evidence concerning the magnitude and determinants of intimate partner violence amongst midlife women. Thus, this study aimed to determine the extent of and the factors contributing to spousal violence amongst midlife Ethiopian women. Methods: The 2016 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS) data were examined, and a sample of 1628 ever-married midlife women was included. The analysis was performed using SPSS version 20. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the determinants of intimate partner violence. All statistical significance was declared at p value < 0.05. Results: The prevalence of spousal violence among midlife women in Ethiopia was 31.8%. Age of women, divorced, and working status were significantly associated with spousal violence. The likelihood of spousal violence is increase among midlife women who had no formal education, less decision-making power in household, and had partner who had drinking habit. Conclusion: This study showed that nearly one-thirds of midlife Ethiopian women have experienced spousal violence in their lifetime. Empowering midlife women by giving them decision-making tools and educating them to deal with, and prevent spousal violence may be effective strategies in reducing this problem.

Determinants of spousal physical violence against women in Zambia: a multilevel analysis.

BACKGROUND: Violence against women and girls is a major public health issue, a violation of human rights, and is linked to a number of harmful effects on one's physical, mental, sexual, and reproductive health. Studies conducted in other parts of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) suggest that there is an association between contextual factors and experience of intimate partner violence. However, in Zambia, this association is not well documented. Thus, this study was conducted to examine how individual and community-level characteristics influence spousal violence against women in Zambia. METHODS: Data from the most recent Zambia Demographic and Health Survey conducted in 2018 was used. A sample of 7,358 ever-married women aged 15-49 years was used in the analysis. Two level multilevel binary logistic regression models were employed to examine the association between individual and contextual-level factors and experience of spousal violence. RESULTS: The prevalence of spousal physical violence against women in Zambia was 21.1% [95% CI, 19.8, 22.5]. Women aged 15-19 [aOR = 2.36, 95% CI = 1.34-4.14] and 20-24 [aOR = 2.11, 95% CI = 1.38-3.22], who did not own mobile phone [aOR = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.10-1.69], and had low decision making autonomy [aOR = 1.24, 95% CI = 1.01-1.54] were more likely experience spousal physical violence. Furthermore, communities which had a low proportion of women with decision making power [aOR = 1.66, 95% CI = 1.26-2.19] were more likely experience spousal physical violence. Additionally, women whose partners' drank alcohol [aOR = 2.81, 95% CI = 2.30-3.45] and those whose partners exhibited jealous behaviour [aOR = 2.38, 95% CI = 1.88-3.21] were more likely to experience spousal physical violence. CONCLUSION: Both individual and community-level factors influenced spousal physical violence in Zambia. Integrating community level factors when designing interventions to address gender-based would be key to reduce women's vulnerability to gender based violence in the country. There is need to re-evaluate and re-strategize current strategies being implemented to address gender based violence in the country to make them context specific.

Spousal Violence among Reproductive Age Group Women - A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Spousal or intimate partner violence is the most common form of domestic violence and is a preventable cause of morbidity and mortality in women. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of spousal violence, various types of spousal violence, and the factors associated with it among reproductive age group women. Materials and Methods: This was an analytical cross-sectional study conducted in the Urban Health Training Center area of a tertiary care teaching hospital in Nagpur, India, among married women between 15 and 49 years of age who were selected using systematic random sampling. The data was collected from a sample of 373 women by face-to-face interview and analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) v21. Results: The prevalence of spousal violence among reproductive age group (15-49 years) women was found to be 59.7%, with emotional violence (54.1%) being the most common, followed by physical (51.2%) and sexual (43.4%) violence in that order. Regular alcohol consumption of husband had the highest odds of spousal violence among women (odds ratio [OR] 12.51, 95% confidence interval [CI] 6.51-24.03). Other factors associated with spousal violence among reproductive age group women were early age at marriage, literacy and employment of women and husband, lack of emotional support from the family members, and dowry-related problems in the family. Conclusion: A multifaceted approach including legal measures, empowerment of women, and sociocultural factors involving families, institutions, governmental, nongovernmental, and civil society organizations is the need of the hour.

Reduction in prevalence of spousal physical violence against women in India: evidence from three national surveys.

Spousal physical violence (PV) against women is considered to be major health issue in developing countries. Lifetime physical violence is a composite outcome consists of hit, kick, beat, slap and threatened with weapon, perpetrated by the husband. The study aims to examine changes in prevalence and specific risk factors for PV from 1998 to 2016 in India. This study analyzed data from a cross sectional epidemiological survey in 1998-1999, NFHS-3 (2005-2006) and NFHS-4 (2015-2016) data. There was a significant decline of about 10% (95% CI: 8.8%-11.1%) in PV. Major risk factors for change in PV were husband's use of alcohol, illiteracy and socio-economic status of the household. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act may have played a role in reducing the PV. Even though there was a decline in PV, actions have to be implemented from the root level to ensure women empowerment.

Association of spousal violence and women's empowerment status among the rural women of sub-Saharan Africa.

Spousal violence (SV) is a global problem for women and its elimination is one of the prime targets of Sustainable Development Goal-5. Data from the Demographic and Health Surveys of seventeen countries, representing two sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) regions (East and Southern Africa [ESA] and West and Central Africa [WCA]), were used to examine the relationship between all types of SV and women's empowerment status among rural married women aged 15-49 years. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to explore adjusted associations, and a relative index of inequality (RII) and slope index of inequality (SII) were used to measure the inequality in experiencing SV by rural women based on their overall empowerment position. Within the period 2015-2019, the reported rate of SV was higher in the ESA (physical SV: 33.55%; sexual SV: 16.96%; any type of SV: 46.14%) than the WCA countries (physical SV: 27.80%; sexual SV: 7.63%; any type of SV: 40.83%), except for emotional SV (WCA: 31.28% vs ESA: 29.35%). In terms of overall empowerment status, rural WCA women were slightly ahead of their counterparts in the ESA region (46.09% and 44.64%, respectively). For both ESA and WCA countries, women who didn't justify violence and who had access to health care (except physical SV in WCA) showed negative but significant association with all types of SV in the adjusted analysis. Conversely, economic empowerment significantly increased the odds of experiencing physical and any type of SV in both regions. The significant risk ratios obtained from RII, for any SV were 0.83 and 1.09, and the ß-coefficients from SII were -0.082 and 0.037 units, respectively, in ESA and WCA. Multi-sectoral microfinance-based intervening programmes and policies should be implemented regionally to empower women, especially in the economic, socio-culture, health care accessibility dimensions, and this will eventually reduce all types of spousal violence in rural SSA.

Impulsivity, impulsive aggression and borderline personality features among violent spouses.

Objective: Spousal violence in Pakistan is under researched but still not considered as a public health problem. The current study is intended to analyze the association between multiple measures of impulsivity, impulsive aggression, and borderline personality feature among violent spouses as well as to find out the moderating role of impulsive aggression between spousal violence and borderline personality features. Methods: A cross-sectional survey research design was used for conducting the research. The sample of 300 spouses, experiencing intimate partner relationships, was taken from different cities of the Hazara division through purposive sampling. Results: Present study demonstrated a significant positive correlation of spousal violence with impulsivity (r = .708∗∗, P < .001), impulsive aggression (r = .176∗∗, P < .001), and borderline personality features (r = .605∗∗, P < .001), while impulsivity was negatively correlated with impulsive aggression (r = -.018, P < .01). Impulsive aggression moderates the relationship between spousal violence and borderline personality features. The results showed that male and female spouses were found equally impulsive and impulsively aggressive. Likewise, impulsivity, impulsive aggression, and borderline personality features were found significant predictors of violence F = (3, 296) = 106. 67, P < .001. Conclusion: Current research offers some important insights and consequences for physicians and practitioners who interact with individuals who have experienced violence. These results have significant therapeutic implications for the treatment of violent couples.

Spousal Violence and Contraceptive Use among Married Afghan Women in a Nationally Representative Sample.

OBJECTIVE: Afghanistan is one of the countries with the highest prevalence of spousal violence (56%) and a low prevalence of contraceptive use (23%), yet there is no study assessing how spousal violence is related to contraceptive use, and what methods are most used by women. Therefore, this study examined the association between the number of types of spousal violence and contraceptive use. METHOD: Using data from 18,985 Afghan married women, aged 15 to 49, who responded to the 2015 Afghanistan Demographic and Health Survey, the current contraceptive method was grouped into five categories: male-involved methods, pills, injectables, long-acting reversible contraception, female sterilization, and Lactation Amenorrhea Method. The number of types of spousal violence in the past 12 months was categorized as none, one type, or two or more types, based on women's experiences with verbal, physical, and sexual violence. For analysis, binary and multinomial logistic regression were used. RESULTS: After adjusting for the covariates, the experience of any spousal violence was associated with contraception use (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.93, 95% CI: 1.64-2.27, p = 0.0001). Among those using contraception, experiencing two or three types of spousal violence was associated with using pills (adjusted risk ratio (aRRR) = 2.12, 95% CI: 1.63-2.77, p = 0.0001), injections (aRRR = 1.75, 95% CI: 1.26-2.41, p = 0.001), and LAM (aRRR = 3.27, 95% CI: 2.05-5.20, p = 0.0001), compared to male-involved methods. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study may inform policymakers and program implementers in designing interventions to address the pervasive problem of violence against women, and make pills and injectables more accessible to Afghan women, since these methods are under women's control and more often used in Afghanistan.

A framework to model global, regional, and national estimates of intimate partner violence.

BACKGROUND: Accurate and reliable estimates of violence against women form the backbone of global and regional monitoring efforts to eliminate this human right violation and public health problem. Estimating the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) is challenging due to variations in case definition and recall period, surveyed populations, partner definition, level of age disaggregation, and survey representativeness, among others. In this paper, we aim to develop a sound and flexible statistical modeling framework for global, regional, and national IPV statistics. METHODS: We modeled IPV within a Bayesian multilevel modeling framework, accounting for heterogeneity of age groups using age-standardization, and age patterns and time trends using splines functions. Survey comparability is achieved using adjustment factors which are estimated using exact matching and their uncertainty accounted for. Both in-sample and out-of-sample comparisons are used for model validation, including posterior predictive checks. Post-processing of models' outputs is performed to aggregate estimates at different geographic levels and age groups. RESULTS: A total of 307 unique studies conducted between 2000-2018, from 154 countries/areas, and totaling nearly 1.8 million unique women responses informed lifetime IPV. Past year IPV had a similar number of studies (n = 332), countries/areas represented (n = 159), and individual responses (n = 1.8 million). Roughly half of IPV observations required some adjustments. Posterior predictive checks suggest good model fit to data and out-of-sample comparisons provided reassuring results with small median prediction errors and appropriate coverage of predictions' intervals. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed modeling framework can pool both national and sub-national surveys, account for heterogeneous age groups and age trends, accommodate different surveyed populations, adjust for differences in survey instruments, and efficiently propagate uncertainty to model outputs. Describing this model to reproducible levels of detail enables the accurate interpretation and responsible use of estimates to inform effective violence against women prevention policy and programs, and global monitoring of elimination efforts as part of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Trick or Treat: Does a Microfinance Loan Induce or Reduce the Chances of Spousal Violence against Women? Answers from India.

It is a common belief that microfinance plays a dual role of poverty alleviation and socioeconomic upliftment of its women participants. However, there are enough researches that negates the positive impact of microfinance loans on spousal violence. Recognized as one of the most predominant social evils, violence against women is not only a violation of their human rights but also an act of exploitation and denial of freedom. In the present study, we have tried to investigate if microfinance loan takers experience more spousal violence as compared to their counterparts by analyzing the National Family Health Survey IV, 2015-16. Our results indicate that 40.8% of women microfinance participants experience spousal violence. Additionally, the likelihood of microfinance participants to experience spousal violence is much higher than the non-microfinance participants (odds ratio = 1.35, p value = .000). Microfinance programs are designed to increase the individual agencies of women participants, which, in turn, reduce the chances of them becoming victims of spousal violence. However, if the credit program participation induces the woman to be a victim of spousal violence together with becoming financially autonomous, then such hidden costs need to be taken into account while evaluating the effectiveness of the gendered policy design.

Sociocultural Determinants of Attitudes Toward Domestic Violence Among Women and Men in Afghanistan: Evidence from Afghanistan Demographic and Health Survey 2015.

Domestic violence (DV), also commonly referred to as intimate partner violence or spousal abuse, is a global public health issue that affects the physical, psychological, sexual, and reproductive health of women. We examined the sociocultural factors associated with the attitude toward DV perpetrated against women in Afghanistan. We used data from the 2015 Afghanistan Demographic and Health Survey, consisting of an ever-married sample of 29,461 women and 10,760 men aged 15 to 49 years. Our dependent variable, attitude toward DV, was determined from responses on acceptance of wife-beating in five scenarios, and the group of socio cultural factors was selected based on evidence from previous studies. Our main analytical method was logistic regression, using the survey design. Our findings indicated that factors such as an increase in years of education and living in a wealthier household reduce the likelihood of acceptance of DV among men and women. Ethnicity was also associated with the attitude toward DV, but the magnitude varied across ethnic groups and gender. Furthermore, an increase in age and living in the urban area were associated with nonjustification of DV among women, but not among men. On the other hand, frequent exposure to the media increases the likelihood of acceptance of DV among men, but not for women. The result of the present study suggests that there are economic, social, and cultural aspects to the attitude toward DV among men and women in Afghanistan. Therefore, policies designed at changing the socio cultural perception of the people are of importance in other to bring about a change in attitude, and even combat the prevalence of DV.

Prevalence and predictors of spousal violence against women in Afghanistan: evidence from Demographic and Health Survey data.

Spousal violence against women is a serious public health problem that is prevalent in all societies, with one in three women around the world experiencing violence in their lifetime. This study examined the prevalence of spousal violence, and its determinants, in Afghanistan using data from the 2015 Afghanistan Demographic and Health Survey. Univariate, bivariate and logistic regression statistical techniques were used to assess the association of socioeconomic variables with spousal violence. The study sample comprised 20,827 currently married women aged 15-49. Fifty-two per cent of women reported experiencing some form of violence by their husband. A significant association was found between women's justification of violence, women's participation in decision-making in their household (COR=0.476; CI=0.446-0.509) and lower risk of experiencing spousal violence. After adjustment for demographic and socioeconomic factors, women's participation in all of four household decisions, either alone or jointly, was found to be associated with a lower risk of experiencing spousal violence (AOR=0.472; CI=0.431-0.516). In both the crude and adjusted models, the risk of experiencing spousal violence was high if the husband's desire for children was different from that of his wife. In the case of inequality in property ownership, the risk of spousal violence was significantly higher (COR=1.263; CI=1.178-1.353; AOR=1.159; CI=1.051-1.278) when women were joint owners of property compared with when they did not own any property. The findings point to an immediate need for legal and social interventions to prevent spousal violence against women, or at least reduce its prevalence, in Afghanistan.

The Impact of COVID-19 Related Lockdown on the Prevalence of Spousal Violence Against Women in Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

There is increasing concern about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown's social and economic consequences on gender-based violence. This study aimed to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on gender-based violence by comparing the prevalence of spousal violence against women before and during the COVID-19 related lockdown periods. This study was conducted in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq using a self-administered online questionnaire survey after the COVID-19 lockdown period in June 2020. Data were collected from a sample of 346 married women about the occurrence, frequency, and forms of spousal violence before and during the lockdown period. Significant increases in violence were observed from the pre-lockdown period to the lockdown period for any violence (32.1% to 38.7%, p = .001), emotional abuse (29.5% to 35.0%, p = .005), and physical violence (12.7% to 17.6%, p = .002). Regarding emotional abuse, humiliation (24.6% to 28.3%, p = .041) and scaring or intimidation (14.2% to 21.4%, p < .001) significantly increased during the lockdown. For physical violence, twisting the arm or pulling hair (9.0% to 13.0%, p = .004) and hitting (5.2% to 9.2%, p = .003) significantly increased during the lockdown. Forcing to have sexual intercourse also significantly increased during lockdown (6.6% to 9.5%., p = .021). The concerned authorities and women's rights organizations should collaborate to enhance the prevention of violence against women. An effective prevention strategy should emphasize recognizing and acknowledging the extent of the problem, raising awareness about the problem and the available resources to address it, and ensuring social and economic stability. Lessons learned about the increased prevalence of spousal violence against women during the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to adopt appropriate strategies to prevent and address it will be valuable for similar future crises.

Spousal violence against women and its consequences on pregnancy outcomes and reproductive health of women in India.

BACKGROUND: Globally, one in three women experienced domestic violence. Alike the scenario observed in India, and a very few studies talk about violence and its consequences on women's health. Hence, the purpose of this study is to access the level of various types of spousal violence in India and to understand the association between physical, sexual and emotional violence against ever-married women by their husbands. The study further examines the consequences of spousal violence on women's health in terms of adverse pregnancy outcomes and reproductive health in India. METHODS: The study uses secondary data from National Family Health Survey-4 (NFHS-4, 2015-16). The analysis was based on a sample of ever-married women aged 15-49 years. Bivariate descriptive analysis and multiple regression analyses have been carried out to understand the association between spousal violence and its consequences on women's health. RESULTS: The study finds that the physical, sexual and emotional violence experienced by ever-married women in India are 29.8%, 13.8% and 7.0%, respectively. Further, the physical and sexual violence experienced by women have a significant association with an unwanted pregnancy, abortion, miscarriages and ever had termination of pregnancies. The regression analysis shows that violence by sexual partners among battered women increased the likelihood of unwanted pregnancy. Similarly, abortion and ever had a termination of pregnancies are also adversely affected by partner violence. Further, the risk of sexually transmitted infection increases 77% by sexual violence and 44% by emotional violence among battered women. Also, Sexual violence substantially increases the risk of prolonged labour during pregnancy. CONCLUSION: This study revealed that one in three women experiencing violence by their husband and also it is evident that various forms of spousal violence adversely affect pregnancies outcomes and reproductive health among battered women compared to not battered.

Prevalence of spousal violence among married women in a rural area in North Kerala.

BACKGROUND: Domestic violence has substantial public health consequences. More than one-third of women globally suffer from physical and sexual violence, mostly by an intimate partner with a lifetime prevalence of 10%-69%. In India, 28.8% of the ever-married women in the reproductive age group, reported domestic violence. Although Kerala, in southern India, performs better than other Indian states on a host of human development indicators for women, 15.8% among the women in this group have ever experienced physical or sexual violence in the past 12 months, the most common perpetrator being the husband. METHODOLOGY: A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out among the ever-married women, residing in a selected area of northern Kerala, who have been married for at least 1 year. One to one structured interview was conducted with a pretested structured questionnaire by the investigator. Spousal violence was defined as proportion of ever-married women with a lifetime experience of violence perpetrated by their spouse, manifested through acts of physical, sexual, and/or emotional violence, even threat. RESULTS: A total of 290 women were interviewed. The age of the participants ranged from 18 years to 64 years; majority were Muslims. Only 16.5% were college-educated and over 90% were homemakers. 29% reported having experienced spousal violence; with the most common being emotional violence (19%) closely followed by sexual violence (18.6%) and physical violence (14.8%). A little over one-third (39.7%) reported controlling behaviour of their husband. Age of the participant (P = 0.019), absence of social support (P = 0.034), employment status of husband (P = 0.026), controlling behaviour of husband (P < 0.001), alcohol abuse by husband (P = 0.004) and extra-marital relationship of spouse (P < 0.001) were found to have significant influence on spousal violence experience. CONCLUSION: More than a quarter of the married women in this rural setting have experienced one or the other form of violence. RECOMMENDATION: A multifaceted approach needs to be employed which takes into consideration legal measures, social sciences, women empowerment, mental health systems and educate the men to curb this menace.

Spousal Violence Against Women in India: A Social-Ecological Analysis Using Data From the National Family Health Survey 2015 to 2016.

Even after enactment of the Protection of Women From Domestic Violence Act 2005, over the last 10 years, the rate of decline of prevalence of spousal violence against women has remained low in India. This study attempts to explain the experience of spousal violence using a social-ecological framework. We analyzed the National Family Health Survey 2015 to 2016 (NFHS-4) data of 66,013 ever-married women aged 15 to 49 years. Participants in the domestic violence module of the NFHS-4 reported their experience of violence committed by their husband within the 12 months preceding the survey. Multilevel logistic regression analyses were done to determine the association between spousal violence and different explanatory variables of various levels of social ecology including variables on women's empowerment. About one fourth of ever-married women reported experiencing any form of violence during the last year. The experience of spousal violence was significantly associated with social ecology at multiple levels. At the individual level, the odds of experiencing physical violence were higher among younger women, who married at a younger age, had an age gap of 3 to 4 years with her husband, and had more children. Women in vulnerable groups, with poor economic status, and members of marginalized communities had higher odds of experiencing spousal violence. Women had high odds of experiencing spousal violence if living in a social ecology with unfavorable social norms, higher rates of domestic crimes, and a higher prevalence of underage marriage. The association of spousal violence with women's empowerment remained inconclusive. The results argue for manipulating contextual factors to empower women to challenge gender-related equations and investing in education for gender sensitization at the higher level social ecologies.

Perpetration and Experience of Spousal Violence Among Nigerian Women: An Analysis of the 2008 and 2013 NDHS.

Various socioeconomic and demographic factors have been known to be associated with spousal violence. The intimate partner violence (IPV) experiences of Nigerian women have been investigated from feminist and life course perspectives from previous studies. However, studies have also pointed to the complexities of victimhood with the presence of IPV perpetration. But there have been few studies on the impact of perpetration of violence on the experience of victimization, and this study seeks to address that gap in knowledge within the Nigerian context. It seeks to understand the dynamics of perpetration and the experience of spousal violence among Nigerian women across 2008 and 2013. The study analyzed the 2008 and 2013 Nigerian Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) data. Using binary logistic regression, the study showed that the perpetration of violence is significantly associated with a woman's victimization experience, after controlling for socioeconomic, demographic, and abuse variables in 2008 and 2013. This study does not in any way minimize the victimization experiences of Nigerian women but simply seeks to provide data that add nuance to our understanding of spousal violence and the possible existence of bidirectional violence among Nigerian spouses.

Pathways to Police Contact for Spousal Violence Survivors: The Role of Individual and Neighborhood Factors in Survivors' Reporting Behaviors.

Rational choice theory proposes that spousal violence survivors engage in a cost-benefit analysis when determining whether to contact the police in the aftermath of violence. Feminist intersectional frameworks contend that the perceived costs and benefits of police intervention differ among survivors based on their intersecting social identities. Normative theory further posits that it is not solely individual factors but also social norms derived from one's neighborhood context that may be related to reporting practices. Consistent with these perspectives, this study assessed the association between spousal violence survivors' sociodemographic, violence, and neighborhood characteristics and (a) police contact, (b) pathways to police contact, (c) motivations for contacting the police, and (d) motivations for not contacting the police. Data were drawn from the 2009 Canadian General Social Survey-Victimization main file, and included male and female survivors (N = 890). Survivors most commonly contacted the police to stop the violence (89.4%) and most commonly did not contact the police because they did not believe it was important enough (35.3%). Results of multivariate regression analysis indicate that survivors who were visible minority, those who feared for their lives, and those who were injured were significantly more likely to self-report violence to police. Survivors were more likely to say the violence was not important enough to report if there was a police station in their neighborhood, and were less likely to say that violence was not important enough to report if they had experienced multiple incidents of violence. Implications for policing and criminal justice system engagement with spousal violence survivors are provided.