NCJ Number
206287
Journal
Violence Against Women Volume: 10 Issue: 7 Dated: July 2004 Pages: 770-789
Date Published
July 2004
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This review of studies that have measured the abuse of women by their partners during pregnancy in countries other than the United State and Canada compares the findings with similar studies in North America.
Abstract
Very little research on abuse during pregnancy has been conducted outside of the United States and Canada, and even less is available from developing countries. The review found seven studies conducted by independent research teams in five industrialized nations. The range of the prevalence of abuse during pregnancy has been reported as 3.4 percent to 11.0 percent in industrialized countries outside of North America (Australia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom) (Irion, 2000; Johnson, Haider, Ellis, Hay, and Lindow, 2003; Mezey, Bewley, Bacchus, and Haworth, 2001; Webster et al., 1996; Widding-Hedin et al., 2000). In developing countries, the range has been reported as 3.8 percent to 31.7 percent. The highest prevalence was found in Egypt (31.5 percent), followed by India (21 percent to 28 percent from three different studies), and Saudi Arabia (21 percent). Poor women, both in developing countries and in the United States, have the highest rates of abuse during pregnancy in most research. As indicated in the North American studies, cultural norms associated with pregnancy are likely to influence the prevalence of violence during pregnancy. In at least two industrialized countries, the United Kingdom and the United States, where maternal mortality is very low overall, intimate partner violence has emerged as a significant cause of maternal mortality. Although there has been an increase in the number of studies of abuse during pregnancy outside of North America, more are needed. Studies that are conducted in prenatal care settings are essential to improve the existing data, and culturally appropriate measures must be devised and tested to measure abuse during pregnancy in different cultures and languages, as well as to assess the impact of perception and attitudes toward pregnancy and violence. Future research should include measures of emotional abuse, controlling tactics, and forced sex as well as physical violence during pregnancy, the year prior to pregnancy, and the entire lifetime. Studies of the outcomes of abuse during pregnancy for both infants and mothers in developing countries are also important. 1 table and 87 references