Prevalence and Predictors of Intimate Partner Violence Among Married Women in Egypt

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) among married women of childbearing age can significantly enhance their risk of adverse health outcomes such as injury and disability, depression and anxiety, unwanted pregnancies, premature labor, complications with delivery, and perinatal and neonatal mortality. The objective of this study was to examine the prevalence and individual and societal factors associated with IPV among Egyptian women. Cross-sectional data on 12,205 ever-married women between the ages of 15 to 49 years were collected from the Egypt Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS). Data from the 2005 and 2014 EDHS were pooled and analyzed. Self-reported responses on violence by husbands were classified into physical, sexual, and emotional violence. The factors of association were quantified using logistic regression methods. The prevalence of experiencing any form of violence among ever-married women in Egypt was 29.4%. Overall, women reported experiencing physical, emotional, and sexual violence at 26.7%, 17.8%, and 4.6%, respectively. Women in the age group of 25 to 29 years had the highest odds (odds ratio [OR] = 1.539, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [1.327, 1.785]) of suffering from any form of IPV. Women residing in urban areas (OR = 1.149, 95% CI = [1.046, 1.262]), having only a primary-level education (OR = 1.756, 95% CI = [1.543, 1.999]), being followers of Islam (OR = 1.713, 95% CI = [1.379, 2.126]), and having husbands with no education (OR = 1.422, 95% CI = [1.263, 1.601]) reported having higher odds of experiencing any form of IPV. Nearly one third of married women of childbearing age are exposed to IPV of any form in Egypt. IPV intervention programs should pay special attention to the socioeconomically vulnerable segments of the population and promote educational status among men and women to curb the occurrence of IPV.

Low use of Modern Family Planning Methods in women suffering from Physical and Psychological abuse by their partiners: Findings from Cross-Sectional Study

“…the present study is higher compared to that reported in other studies such as Egypt with IPV prevalence was 29.4% with 26.7% physical, 17.8% psychological and 4.6% sexual violence(18), Nepal overall IPV psychological, physical and sexual violence was 18.3 %, 15.2 % and 2.3 % respectively among married women…”

“…These variation of ndings observed in the prevalence of IPV, could be contributed by many factors, for example having outside sexual partners, alcohol use, early marriage, cohabiting, attitudes of supportive wife beating, experiencing childhood abuse, growing up with domestic violence and experiencing forms of violence in adulthood were mentioned to increase the risk of IPV practice (21). (18).…”

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

“…The covariates included in our study were selected based on their significant associations with IPV [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ] and also their availability in the DHS dataset. The covariates include maternal age, marital status, wealth, maternal education level, place of residence, and mass-media exposure.…”

Polygyny and intimate partner violence in sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from 16 cross-sectional demographic and health surveys

“…In SSA, where IPV has been found to be predominant, several scholars have made efforts to understand the predictors of IPV, with some identifying socio-demographic factors such as age at first marriage, spousal age difference, education, wealth index, place of residence, among other factors as predictors ( Ahinkorah et al, 2018 ; Akamike, Uneke, Uro-Chukwu, Okedo-Alex, & Chukwu, 2019 ; Dim, 2020 ; Izugbara, Obiyan, Degfie, & Bhatti, 2020 ; McCloskey, Boonzaier, Steinbrenner, & Hunter, 2016 ; Yaya, Hudani, Buh, & Bishwajit, 2019 ). Other studies have established an association between women's autonomy or household decision-making capacity and IPV ( Ahinkorah et al, 2018 ; Tenkorang, 2018 ; Zegenhagen, Ranganathan, & Buller, 2019 ).…”