Trends and risk factors associated with the perpetration of physical intimate partner violence by women in Haiti, 2000-2012

Abstract

ABSTRACTTrends in the proportion of women reporting ever having perpetrated physical intimate partner violence (IPV) and factors associated with such IPV in Haiti between 2000 and 2012 were analyzed. We used datasets from Haitian couples in the 2000, 2005, and 2012 Demographic and Health Surveys. Physical IPV was assessed by the Conflict Tactics Scale. Trends were tested with the Cochrane–Armitage test. Women’s and spouses’ factors associated with physical IPV perpetration by women were estimated using binomial multivariable regressions. In 2000, 2005 and 2012, 3.5%, 3.4% and 3.2% women, respectively, reported perpetrating physical IPV (p for trend = 0.732). Factors associated with physical IPV by women included exposure to any IPV [Adjusted prevalence ratio (APR): 9.37; 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 5.05–17.38], living with a male partner who had a genital ulcer in the year preceding the survey [APR: 2.92; 95% CI: 1.11–7.65], living with a male partner who drank alcohol [APR: 2.58; 95% CI: 1.42–4.69], and having witnessed her father beating her mother during childhood [APR: 2.08; 95% CI: 1.14–3.81]. Exposure to IPV and history of genital ulcer in husbands/partners were the important factors associated with perpetration of physical IPV by women in Haiti over a 10-year period.