Intimate partner violence against adolescent girls and young women and its association with miscarriages, stillbirths and induced abortions in sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from demographic and health surveys

Ahinkorah, Bright Opoku

doi:10.1016/j.ssmph.2021.100730

Cited by 22 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…IPV has been a perennial social injustice that cuts across different populations and socio-cultural contexts [ 2 , 3 ]. Hence, it has gained the attention of researchers in recent times.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a pervasive social injustice and significant public health concern [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. Available evidence suggests that IPV, which refers to any behavior within an intimate relationship that inflicts physical, psychological, and sexual harm [ 4 ], can be regarded as a pandemic, as one in every three women in the world have experienced IPV at some point in their lives [ 5 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Experience of Intimate Partner Violence among Women in Sexual Unions: Is Supportive Attitude of Women towards Intimate Partner Violence a Correlate?

et al. 2021

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Intimate partner violence (IPV) is predominant in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), with nearly 40 percent of women reporting IPV at some point in time. In this study, we investigated whether a supportive attitude towards IPV is associated with past-year experience of IPV among women in sexual unions in SSA. This study involved a cross-sectional analysis of data from the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) of 23 countries in SSA. Bivariate and multivariable binary logistic regression analyses were performed to determine the association between attitude towards IPV and past-year experience of IPV. The regression results were presented in a tabular form using crude odds ratio (cOR) and adjusted odds ratio (aOR) at 95% confidence intervals (CIs). In the pooled countries, we found that women who had supportive attitude towards IPV were more likely to experience IPV compared to those who rejected IPV (cOR = 1.72, 95% CI = 1.64, 1.79), and this persisted after controlling for maternal age, marital status, wealth, maternal education level, place of residence, and mass-media exposure (aOR = 1.72, 95% CI = 1.64, 1.79). The same trend and direction of association between attitude towards IPV and experience of IPV was also found in all the 23 studied countries. This study has demonstrated that women who accept IPV are more likely to experience IPV. Hence, we recommend that efforts to end IPV must focus primarily on changing the attitudes of women. This goal can be achieved by augmenting women’s empowerment, education, and employment interventions, as well as sensitizing women in relation to the deleterious ramifications of accepting IPV. Furthermore, reducing IPV is critical towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 3.

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“…IPV has been a perennial social injustice that cuts across different populations and socio-cultural contexts [ 2 , 3 ]. Hence, it has gained the attention of researchers in recent times.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experience of Intimate Partner Violence among Women in Sexual Unions: Is Supportive Attitude of Women towards Intimate Partner Violence a Correlate?

et al. 2021

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“…Specifically, AGYW in most countries in SSA are often denied access to family planning services due to negative socio-cultural norms and this increases their tendency of experiencing unintended pregnancies, which could end in abortion [21,22]. Apart from abortion, miscarriages and stillbirths, which also constitute other forms of pregnancy termination have been found to be higher among never married adolescent girls due to stigma, which affect their emotional and psychological health and low utilization of antenatal care services [23][24][25].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Detailed information on the two-stage sampling procedure exist in previous studies [12,13]. A total of 62, 747 AGYW (aged [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] were included in this study. Table 1 has comprehensive information on the sample.…”

Section: Sample and Sampling Strategymentioning

confidence: 99%

Socio-demographic determinants of pregnancy termination among adolescent girls and young women in selected high fertility countries in sub-Saharan Africa

Ahinkorah

2021

BMC Pregnancy Childbirth

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Background Most of the unintended pregnancies that occur among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) end up in pregnancy termination. In this study, the socio-demographic determinants of pregnancy termination among AGYW (aged 15–24) in selected countries with high fertility rates in SSA were examined. Methods This was a cross-sectional analysis of data from the most recent Demographic and Health Surveys of nine countries in SSA. The countries included are Angola, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Chad, Gambia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Uganda. A total of 62,747 AGYW constituted the sample size for the study. Fixed and random effects models were used to examine the determinants of pregnancy termination with statistical significance at p < 0.05. Results Higher odds of pregnancy termination were found among AGYW aged 20–24, those who were cohabiting and married, those who listened to radio and watched television at least once a week and those who lived in communities with high literacy level. Conversely, the odds of pregnancy termination were lower among AGYW with three or more births and those with secondary/higher education. Conclusion The socio-demographic determinants of pregnancy termination among AGYW in this study were age, level of education, marital status, exposure to radio and television, parity, and community literacy level. The findings provide the needed information for designing health interventions to reduce unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions in countries with high fertility rates in SSA. It is recommended that governments and non-governmental organisations in these countries should enhance sexuality education and regular sensitization of adolescent sexual and reproductive health programmes targeted at AGYW who are at risk of pregnancy termination.

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“…Moreover, IPV is associated with many negative mental health outcomes including depression, heightened anxiety, and post-traumatic stress [ 8 ]. Women who experience IPV are most likely to have poor maternal and child health outcomes as they would not be able to seek early health care due to fear of being abused by their partners [ 9 ]. Considering the critical nature of IPV, the United Nations (UN) in its 17 Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs] re-emphasized the need to reduce and possibly eliminate IPV by 2030.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intimate partner violence against married and cohabiting women in sub-Saharan Africa: does sexual autonomy matter?

et al. 2022

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Background Literature shows that women’s sexual autonomy, which refers to women’s capacity to refuse sex and ask a partner to use condom, has significant implications on the sexual and reproductive health outcomes and sexual-and-gender based violence. Nevertheless, there is scarcity of empirical evidence to support the association between women’s sexual autonomy and intimate partner violence (IPV) in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods Data for the study were extracted from the recent Demographic and Health Surveys in 24 countries in sub-Saharan Africa between 2010 and 2019. Bivariable and multivariable binary logistic regression analyses were performed to examine the association between sexual autonomy and IPV in all the studied countries. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Results The pooled prevalence of IPV and sexual autonomy in the 24 countries were 38.5% and 73.0% respectively. Overall, the odds of exposure to IPV were higher among women with sexual autonomy, compared to those without sexual autonomy even after controlling for covariates (age, level of education, marital status, current working status, place of residence, wealth quintile and media exposure). At the country-level, women from Angola, Cameroon, Chad, Gabon, Cote d’lvoire, Gambia, Mali, Nigeria, Kenya, Comoros, Zambia, and South Africa who had sexual autonomy were more likely to experience IPV whilst those in Burundi were less likely to experience IPV. The study showed that sexual autonomy increases women’s exposure to IPV and this occurred in many countries except Burundi where women with sexual autonomy were less likely to experience IPV. Conclusion The findings highlight the need for serious programs and policies to fight against IPV in the sub-region. Additionally, laws need to be passed and implemented, with law enforcement agencies provided with the necessary resources to reduce intimate partner violence among women with sexual autonomy.

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Intimate partner violence against adolescent girls and young women and its association with miscarriages, stillbirths and induced abortions in sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from demographic and health surveys

Cited by 22 publications

References 33 publications

Experience of Intimate Partner Violence among Women in Sexual Unions: Is Supportive Attitude of Women towards Intimate Partner Violence a Correlate?

Experience of Intimate Partner Violence among Women in Sexual Unions: Is Supportive Attitude of Women towards Intimate Partner Violence a Correlate?

Socio-demographic determinants of pregnancy termination among adolescent girls and young women in selected high fertility countries in sub-Saharan Africa

Intimate partner violence against married and cohabiting women in sub-Saharan Africa: does sexual autonomy matter?

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