Domestic violence: a cross-sectional study among pregnant women in different regions of Sri Lanka

Muzrif Munas · Dinusha Perera · Kumudu Wijewardena · Berit Schei · Katarina Swahnberg

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Intimate Partner and Family Violence Elder Abuse and Neglect Gender, Violence, Rights in Latin America

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to assess the regional differences in domestic violence among pregnant women in the capital district and in the tea plantation sector of Sri Lanka, to explore potential contributory factors and to assess whether healthcare workers addressed domestic violence and disclosure among survivors. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study was carried out using interviewer-administered Abuse Assessment Screen. SETTING: Fifty-seven antenatal clinic centres in the capital district and 30 in the tea plantation sector. PARTICIPANTS: Pregnant women between 6 and 40 weeks of gestational age. In the capital district, 1375 women were recruited from antenatal clinic centres in the urban (n=25) and in the rural areas (n=32), and 800 women from 30 centres in the tea plantation sector. The response rate in the capital district was 95.6% and 96.7% in the tea plantation sector. RESULTS: Among the total sample of pregnant women (n=2088), the prevalence of 'ever abused' was 38.6%, and the prevalence of 'currently abused' was 15.9%. 'Ever abused' (31.5% vs 50.8%) and 'currently abused' (10% vs 25.8%) were significantly higher (P<0.001) among the women living in the tea plantation sector. 'Ever abused' was associated with living in the tea plantation sector, being employed, living far from gender-based violence care centre and of Muslim ethnicity, after adjusting for age, education and family income. Only 38.8% of all participants had been asked by healthcare workers about abuse. Living in the tea plantation sector and lower level of education were associated with not being asked. Among those who reported 'ever abused', only 8.7% had disclosed the experience to a healthcare worker. CONCLUSION: Domestic violence was prevalent and highest among women in the tea plantation sector compared with the capital district. The capacity of healthcare workers in addressing domestic violence should be increased.

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References

1998Empowering survivors of abuse : health care for battered women and their children 1998The Abuse Assessment Screen: A clinical instrument to measure frequency, severity, and perpetrator of abuse against women.2008Health-sector responses to intimate partner violence in low- and middle-income settings: a review of current models, challenges and opportunities 2001The prevalence and pattern of wife beating in the Trincomalee district in eastern Sri Lanka.2010Intimate partner violence in Sri Lanka.

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2022Screening for intimate partner violence during pregnancy: a test accuracy study 2021Socioeconomic and Geographic Correlates of Intimate Partner Violence in Sri Lanka: Analysis of the 2016 Demographic and Health Survey

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