Background
Intimate partner
violence (IPV) is an urgent public health priority. It is a neglected issue in
women’s health, especially in urban slums in Nepal and globally. This study was
designed to better understand the IPV experienced by young pregnant women in urban
slums of the Kathmandu Valley, as well as to identify their coping strategies,
care and support seeking behaviours. Womens’ views on ways to prevent IPV were
also addressed.
Methods
20 young pregnant women
from 13 urban slums in the Kathmandu valley were recruited purposively for this
qualitative study, based on pre-defined criteria. In-depth interviews were
conducted and transcribed, with qualitative content analysis used to analyse
the transcripts.
Results
14 respondents were
survivors of violence in urban slums. Their intimate partner(s) committed most
of the violent acts. These young pregnant women were more likely to experience
different forms of violence (psychological, physical and sexual) if they
refused to have sex, gave birth to a girl, or if their husband had alcohol use
disorder. The identification of foetal gender also increased the experience of
physical violence at the prenatal stage. Interference from in-laws prevented
further escalation of physical abuse. The most common coping strategy adopted
to avoid violence among these women was to tolerate and accept the husbands’
abuse because of economic dependence. Violence survivors sought informal
support from their close family members. Women suggested multiple short and
long term actions to reduce intimate partner violence such as female education,
economic independence of young women, banning identification of foetal gender
during pregnancy and establishing separate institutions within their community
to handle violence against young pregnant women.
Conclusions
Diversity in the design
and implementation of culturally and socially acceptable interventions might be
effective in addressing violence against young pregnant women in humanitarian
settings such as urban slums. These include, but are not limited to, treatment
of alcohol use disorder, raising men’s awareness about pregnancy, addressing
young women’s economic vulnerability, emphasising the role of health care
professionals in preventing adverse consequences resulting from gender
selection technologies and working with family members of violence survivors.
...A 23-year-old woman, four months pregnant, described a similar situation of lack of control of sexual relations with her husband:
...A 23-year-old woman, four months pregnant, described a similar situation of lack of control of sexual relations with her husband:
" My husband has kept me in chains (overly
protective). He is a very possessive man and controls me by not allowing me to
go to others' home, to not talk to men. If I talk to them he will suspect me of
having affairs. He does not even allow me to go to my maternal home because I
have two unmarried brothers (angry expression). He wants me to have sexual
intercourse all 24 h. He forces me for sex, and if I say no then he will
say- " Why don't you want to sleep with me? Have you slept with someone
else" ? I have to do sex according to his wishes and interests and if I
say anything he beats me up" (sad expression)...
Full article at: http://goo.gl/LouFAW
By:
Public Health and
Environment Research Center, Kathmandu, Nepal
Department of
Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
Department of
Public Health, Nobel College, Pokhara University, Kathmandu, Nepal
Nepal Health
Economics Association, Kathmandu, Nepal
Keshab Deuba, Phone: +977 9843064279, http://percnepal.org/
More at: https://twitter.com/hiv insight
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