Abstract
Intimate partner violence (IPV) in pregnancy adversely affects the health of women and unborn children. To prevent this, the community responses, societal systems, and structures to support victims of IPV in pregnancy are vital. Objectives: to explore community stakeholders’ perspectives related to IPV in pregnancy in Jimma, Ethiopia, and if needed, create the knowledge base for interventions. Methods: using an exploratory design, this qualitative study had a maximum-variation (multiple spectrum sources) sampling strategy with 16 semi-structured interviews of purposively selected key informants representing different community institutions. Guided by Connell’s theory of gender and power, a content analysis of the translated interviews was conducted using Atlas.ti 7 software. Results: reconciliation between IPV victims and their abusers was the solution promoted by almost all the respondents. There was limited awareness of the adverse impacts IPV in pregnancy has on the health of the woman and the foetus. Despite regular encounters with victims, there is no organized or structured operational response to support IPV victims between the participating institutions. Conclusion: the potential danger of IPV for the mother or the unborn child was not well understood by the members of the studied Ethiopian community. Neither coordinated efforts to support IPV victims nor links among relevant agencies existed. The study demonstrated the dire need of coordinated practical action, changes in current socio-cultural norms, formal training and capacity building, awareness creation, clear intervention guidelines, and facilitation of support networks among relevant institutions in Ethiopian communities.
Highlights
Worldwide, almost one third of all women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by their intimate partner [1]
intimate partner violence (IPV) is widely seen as a private issue in Ethiopia, accepted and tolerated by the society [28,29]
Our study has identified that there are few formal and informal resources supporting women experiencing IPV in this Ethiopian community
Summary
Almost one third of all women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by their intimate partner [1]. Ethiopia has even higher intimate partner violence (IPV) prevalence, with nearly three in four women reporting lifetime IPV experiences [2], and a prevalence of 15–36%. During pregnancy [3,4,5,6,7]. A growing body of evidence highlights the adverse short- and long-term physical, reproductive, and mental health consequences for women exposed to IPV during pregnancy [8]. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 4694; doi:10.3390/ijerph16234694 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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