Prevalence and Risk Factors of Abuse against Married Women in Eastern Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Abstract Background: Domestic abuse against a female is considered an anomalous deportment; however it is still an obnubilated quandary. Its prevalence rate is very high reaching up to 59% in certain communities. This study was done with the main objective of ascertaining the rate of women abuse in both Al-Dammam and Al-Ahsa cities of Saudi Arabia and to explore the associated risk factors to it. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on a convenient sample of 348 married Saudi women aged between 18 and 50 years, who have one child or more and live in the designated cities. The data were amassed by betokens of a pre-designed questionnaire. Results: The prevalence of women abuse was found to be around 19%, but reached to 33% when added to it the response of women to the abuse cognate questions. The highest rate was among women aged 40 years and older. The most mundane type of abuse was that of multiple types that accounted to 49% (which included verbal, physical and others). Vituperation accounted for 35.8% and physical, emotional, and psychological accounted for 7.5% each. Abuse was higher among lower educated couples and in families with poor economic status. Only a moiety of the abused women sought help, and most did so from their families (71%) and friends (17.8). Very few reported to the police. Conclusion: The prevalence of abuse against women is underestimated, as many women did not admit frankly being abused while they did answer abuse cognate questions. Since this type of violence affects the stability of the family and the well-being of the victim, it is recommended to establish utilize multi disciplinary programs aiming at raising the cognizance level of the society against this eccentric demeanor. Educating current and future couples and opportune training of health care providers