Prevalence of Domestic Violence Among the Pregnant Women Attending BPKIHS

Abstract

Aims: To find out the prevalence of domestic violence in pregnant women attending Antenatal clinics (ANC) of B. P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, a tertiary centre in eastern Nepal.

Methods: It was a hospital based cross-sectional study done at antenatal clinics of BPKIHS from 14^th March 2015 to 30^th August 2015. The total number of recruited antenatal patients was 470. Data were collected by face to face interview via pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis.

Results: The prevalence of domestic violence among pregnant women was 53.2% of which prevalence of physical domestic violence was 9.6%. The most common person inflicting the domestic violence was husband (23.6%). Emotional abuse was the most common form of domestic violence experienced by the pregnant women (26.8%) and threatening for remarriage was most common emotional violence faced (43.2%). As the age of the pregnant women increases, they tend to have more domestic violence.

Conclusions: The prevalence of Domestic Violence among pregnant women seemed alarmingly high in our society. Awareness to the family members and strengthening the women empowerment at community level might play a major role for reducing such violence. Pregnancy-related violence is a serious public health issue.