Abstract
BackgroundIntimate partner physical violence is a common global phenomenon. About 30.00% and 38.83% of women in the world and in sub-Saharan Africa experienced physical violence by their partner respectively in 2013. Though intimate partner violence has serious adverse health consequences, there is limited information about partner violence during pregnancy in Ethiopia. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the prevalnce of physical intimate partner violence during pregnancy and associated factors among women attending antenatal care in Shire Endaselassie town, Tigray, northen EthiopiaMethodsA facility based cross-sectional study was conducted from May 3 to July 6, 2015. Four hundred and twenty-two pregnant women attending three public health facilities were included using systematic sampling technique. In addition, twenty-two purposely selected key informants were interviewed. The data collectors and supervisors were trained on all data collection processes. Data were entered to Epi-Info version 7.1.2.00 and exported to SPSS version 20.00. Logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with intimate partner physical violence. Statistical significance was declared at p < 0.05. Qualitative data were categorized into themes and triangulated with the quantitative results.ResultsThe prevalence of intimate partner physical violence in pregnancy was 20.6% (CI = 16.70, 24.90). Age at first marriage greater than or equal to 17 years (AOR = 4.42, CI = 2.07, 9.42), women with no formal education (AOR = 2.78 CI = 1.10, 7.08), rural dwellers (AOR = 2.63 CI = 1.24, 5.58), intimate partners with no formal education (AOR = 2.78 CI = 1.10, 7.08) and intimate partner alcohol consumption (AOR = 3.8 CI = 1.85, 7.82) were factors associated with intimate partner physical violence towards pregnant women.ConclusionNearly one fifth of women surveyed experienced intimate partner physical violence during pregnancy. Early marriage, rural dwelling, intimate partner alcohol consumption, and educational status were associated with intimate partner physical violence during pregnancy. Urgent attention to women’s rights and health is essential at all levels to alleviate the problem and its risk factors in Tigray regional state of Ethiopia.
Highlights
Intimate partner physical violence is a common global phenomenon
Intimate partner physical violence is highest in subSaharan Africa, where 38.83% of women were abused by their intimate partners [3]; the prevalence in Nigeria, Rwanda and Tanzania was 22.90%, 19.30% and 18.00% respectively [4,5,6]
Age at first marriage less than 18, women’s education, residence, intimate partner’s education and alcohol consumption were factors associated with intimate partner Physical violence (PV) during pregnancy
Summary
About 30.00% and 38.83% of women in the world and in sub-Saharan Africa experienced physical violence by their partner respectively in 2013. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalnce of physical intimate partner violence during pregnancy and associated factors among women attending antenatal care in Shire Endaselassie town, Tigray, northen Ethiopia. About 35.00% of women experienced physical violence committed by their intimate partners [1]. A study in Abay Chomen district, Western Ethiopia revealed 44.50% women experienced intimate partner violence in a recent pregnancy [9]. This higher prevalence may be due to women’s disadvantaged position in the country’s patriarchal society [9]. According to the EDHS report, 68% of women agree that wife beating is justified [10]
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