This study explored the prevalence and correlates of past-year physical violence against women in slum and non-slum areas of urban Bangladesh. We used multivariate logistic regression to analyze data from the 2006 Urban Health Survey, a population-based survey of 9122 currently married women aged 15–49 selected using a multi-stage cluster sampling design. The prevalence of reported past-year physical spousal violence was 31%. Prevalence of past-year physical spousal violence was higher in slums (35%) than in non-slums (20%). Slapping/arm-twisting and pushing/shaking/throwing something at the women were the most commonly reported acts of physical abuse. Multivariate analysis showed that the risk of physical spousal abuse was lower among older women, women with post-primary education, and those belonging to rich households and women whose husband considered their opinion in decision-making. Women were at higher risk of abuse if they had many children, believed that married woman should work if the husband is not making enough money, and approved wife beating norms. This study serves to confirm the commonness of physical spousal abuse in urban Bangladesh demonstrating the seriousness of this multifaceted phenomenon as a social and public health issue. The present findings suggest the need for comprehensive prevention and intervention strategies that capitalize on the interplay of individual and sociocultural factors that cause physical spousal violence. Our study adds to a growing literature documenting domestic violence against women in urban areas of developing south Asian nations.

Context Contraceptive discontinuation is a common event. We hypothesize that a significant proportion of contraceptive discontinuations are associated with low motivation to avoid pregnancy; this will be reflected in a significant proportion of pregnancies following discontinuation being reported as intended. Methods We use Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data from 6 countries to explore the extent to which women report pregnancies following contraceptive discontinuation as intended and to identify the characteristics of women who report pregnancies following contraceptive failure or discontinuation for non-pregnancy reasons as intended. Results We found that relatively high percentages of births are reported as intended following contraceptive failure and discontinuation for non-pregnancy reasons (16–50% for failure and around 40% for discontinuation for reasons other than desire for pregnancy). While there were few consistent patterns in socio-economic factors associated with reporting births following discontinuation and failure as intended, stronger and more consistent associations were found with variables expected to be linked to motivation such as number of living children, reason for discontinuation, and the time elapsed between discontinuation and pregnancy. Conclusions These findings suggest that underlying variation in motivation to avoid pregnancy is an important factor in contraceptive discontinuation.

Using the 2005-2006 Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey, we investigated the prevalence of HIV testing uptake within a sample of women (6839) and men (5315), and identified the independent effects of AIDS stigma on testing uptake, with particular emphasis on three pathways to testing: voluntary testing, testing when offered, and testing when required. The prevalence of self-reported HIV testing was higher among women (31%) than men (22%). For women, the main pathway to testing uptake was to accept testing when it is offered (46%), whereas for men it was voluntary testing (53%). In the logistic regression models, we found that social rejection stigma was inversely associated with uptake across all pathways of testing for women, but not men. As regards observed enacted stigma, respondents who both knew someone with HIV and had observed discrimination against someone with HIV were more likely to test for HIV through all pathways, while those who knew someone with HIV but had not observed stigma were more likely to test voluntarily. Individual characteristics important to the adoption of testing included high educational attainment, religion, exposure to mass media, and ever use of condoms; while being never married and self-perceived risk were barriers to testing. Programmatic strategies aimed at increasing HIV testing uptake should consider reducing stigma toward people living with HIV/AIDS and also addressing the role of agency and structure in individual's decision to be tested for HIV.

Using data from 8,320 husbands'self reports for the 2006 Urban Health Survey, this article examines the prevalence of physical and sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrated by husbands against their wives in Bangladesh and identifies risk markers associated with such violence. Of the men included in the sample for this study, 55 percent reported perpetrating physical IPV against their wives at some point in their married lives, 23 percent reported perpetrating physical IPV in the past year, 20 percent reported ever perpetrating sexual IPV, and 60 percent reported ever perpetrating physical or sexual IPV. Bivariate analyses revealed that men residing in slums had a greater likelihood than those residing in nonslum areas and in district municipalities of perpetrating lifetime and past-year physical IPV, and any lifetime (physical or sexual) IPV. Lifetime sexual IPV prevalence, by contrast, was highest in district municipalities (26 percent), followed by slum (20 percent) and nonslum (17 percent) areas. Net of other factors, low socioeconomic levels were associated with men's increased likelihood of perpetrating IPV. Alcohol and drug use, sexually transmitted disease infection, poor mental health, and holding attitudes supportive of wife beating were predictive of IPV perpetration. These results suggest that IPV-prevention programs targeting men should consider spousal abuse, substance use, and sexual risk behaviors as social and public health problems and should also consider the sociocultural context within which men who abuse their partners are embedded.

Availability, utilization, and quality of EmOC services in Bauchi State, Nigeria, are suboptimal. The health system's capacity to manage emergency obstetric complications needs to be strengthened.