NCJ Number
223752
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 23 Issue: 6 Dated: August 2008 Pages: 437-445
Date Published
August 2008
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This Turkish study examined the effects of marital violence on the reproductive health of women victims, as well as their use of reproductive health services, with a focus on number of pregnancies and abortions, contraceptive use, prenatal care and gynecological examinations, emotions, and beliefs about sexual behavior.
Abstract
The study found that women’s ages at first marriage and first sexual intercourse were negatively correlated with the level of marital violence they experienced. A younger age at first marriage and first sexual intercourse increased unplanned pregnancies, induced abortions, and sexually transmitted diseases in the adolescent age group, which had serious negative effects on reproductive health. Women who did not plan their last pregnancies and terminated their pregnancies with abortion experienced more marital violence. The study also found a significant negative correlation between total violence points and amount of prenatal care and giving birth without the supervision of health-care professionals. The study found that women who experienced marital violence could not freely seek medical assistance, could not easily discuss their gynecological problems with their spouses, and usually needed permission from their husbands to seek medical assistance. The study population consisted of 250 married women at their reproductive ages of 15 to 49, who applied to the obstetrics and gynecology service of a university hospital and a gynecology clinic of a training hospital in Ankara, Turkey, between February 1, 2007, and April 30, 2007. In order to collect data on demographic characteristics, reproductive health status, and the level of marital violence, a 35-item questionnaire developed for this study and the Scale of Marital Violence Against Women were used. 8 tables and 40 references