Intimate Partner Violence in Saudi Arabia: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious public health issue at the global level, with cultural differences in its nature and prevalence. Most of the current evidence related to IPV comes from Western countries; however, there is a lack of evidence of IPV in developing countries such as Saudi Arabia. The issue of IPV has been investigated in Saudi Arabia only recently, and data have been inconsistent and inconclusive. Hence, we conducted a systematic review of the extant literature devoted to IPV prevalence, risk factors, and outcomes as well as Saudi women’s help-seeking behaviors. Various databases, such as PubMed, CINAHL, Medline, PsycINFO, and reference lists of the reviewed studies, were searched to identify relevant studies by using different keywords. The review included 16 studies that met the inclusion criteria, which revealed several findings. There is no national representative prevalence study of IPV in the Saudi context. Various IPV definitions were used with limited evidence for the reliability and validity of the used IPV measures. IPV is a prevalent issue among Saudi women, but rates are comparable to those of other countries. There are various individual, relational, and sociocultural factors that increase women’s vulnerability to IPV victimization. However, limited information is available regarding IPV protective factors. More importantly, IPV experiences negatively affect Saudi women’s physical and mental health status. Saudi women rarely seek formal support for IPV. This review also highlights the lack of IPV data and inconsistencies in defining and measuring IPV. More rigorous research regarding IPV is needed to help develop relevant preventive and intervention programs.

Prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence in Pregnancy: An Umbrella Review

“…Characteristics of included systematic reviews and meta-analyses are shown in Table 2 . Only two reviews included global data [ 22 , 23 ], most of which were limited to a country or a group of countries, mainly from Asia [ 4 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ] and Africa [ 4 , 26 , 27 , 29 , 30 ], followed by America [ 31 , 32 ], Europe [ 32 ], and Australia [ 32 ]. The number of studies included in the reviews giving information about IPV prevalence during pregnancy ranged from 2 [ 24 ] to 73 [ 23 ].…”

“…Most of the studies included in the selected reviews were cross-over studies, in which there was only a single evaluation of the women sometime during pregnancy. Some of the reviews also included cohort studies [ 4 , 24 , 25 , 30 , 31 , 32 ]. Reviews included studies giving information about IPV only at pregnancy [ 22 , 23 , 24 , 27 , 29 , 30 ], both during pregnancy or at postpartum [ 4 , 30 , 31 , 32 ], during pregnancy, or having a child 2 years old or younger [ 25 ] or at current pregnancy or any pregnancy [ 26 ].…”

“…Of the selected reviews, nine investigated prevalence of physical violence [ 4 , 22 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 30 , 31 ], nine psychological violence [ 4 , 22 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 30 , 31 ], ten sexual violence [ 4 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 30 , 31 ], and three any type of violence [ 26 , 29 , 32 ]. From the selected studies, four did not report IPV pregnancy during pregnancy as main outcome [ 24 , 25 , 26 , 32 ]. Five studies showed a summarized estimate of IPV during pregnancy [ 23 , 24 , 28 , 29 , 30 ].…”

“…From the selected studies, four did not report IPV pregnancy during pregnancy as main outcome [ 24 , 25 , 26 , 32 ]. Five studies showed a summarized estimate of IPV during pregnancy [ 23 , 24 , 28 , 29 , 30 ]. In most of the reviews ranges of IPV prevalence are given [ 4 , 22 , 24 , 26 , 27 , 31 , 32 ].…”

“…Regarding physical IPV during pregnancy, China [ 28 ] and Vietnam [ 25 ] showed the lowest ranges; (3.6% (95% CI: 1.6–6.2%)) and (3–8.5%) respectively. Higher ranges were found in countries from Latin America [ 31 ] (2.5–38.7%), Africa and Asia [ 4 ] (2–35%) followed by low- and middle-income countries [ 27 ] (5–52.8%), countries from the Arab League [ 26 ] (10.4–34.6%) and African countries [ 30 ] (22.5–40%), being the widest range the one found in Saudi Arabia [ 24 ] (21–78%). James and colleagues [ 22 ] showed a prevalence of 13.8% in all over the world.…”