1) Percentage of women age 15-49 who have experienced physical violence since age 15.
2) Percentage of women age 15-49 who have experienced physical violence in the past 12 months.
Coverage:
Population base: All women age 15-49 selected and interviewed for the domestic violence module (v044 = 1) (IR file)
Time period: Current status at time of survey
Numerators:
1) Number of women who have experienced any form of physical violence asked about (see variable list below) by:
a) Any husband/partner ever if ever-married and any intimate partner ever for never-married women who report an intimate partner (any of d105a – g, j in 1:4 or d130a in 1:4); or
b) Anyone other than any husband/partner for ever-married women or any intimate partner of never-married women since they were age 15 years (d115y = 0); or
c) Anyone during any pregnancy, if ever pregnant (d118y = 0)
2) Number of women who have experienced any physical violence in the 12 months (often or sometimes) preceding the survey:
a) Often: (any of d105a – g, j = 1 or d117a = 1)
b) Sometimes: (any of d105a – g, j = 2 or d117a = 2)
c) Often or sometimes: (any of d105a – g, j in 1:2 or d117a in 1:2 or d130a = 1)
Denominator: Number of women age 15-49 selected and interviewed for the domestic violence module (v044 = 1)
Variables: IR file.
|
v044 |
Selected for Domestic Violence module |
|
d105a |
Ever been pushed, shook or had something thrown by husband/partner |
|
d105b |
Ever been slapped by husband/partner |
|
d105c |
Ever been punched with fist or hit by something harmful by husband/partner |
|
d105d |
Ever been kicked or dragged by husband/partner |
|
d105e |
Ever been strangled or burnt by husband/partner |
|
d105f |
Ever been attacked with a knife, gun or other weapon by husband/partner |
|
d105g |
Ever CS physical violence by husband/partner |
|
d105j |
Ever had arm twisted or hair pulled by husband/partner |
|
d115y |
No person other than husband/partner ever physically hurt respondent |
|
d117a |
Frequency of being hit in last 12 months by other than husband/partner |
|
d118y |
Respondent was not hurt by anyone during a pregnancy |
|
d130a |
Previous husband/partner: ever hit, slap, kick, or physically hurt respondent |
|
d005 |
Weight for Domestic Violence |
Numerator divided by denominator, multiplied by 100.
Women with missing information on physical violence are included in the denominator but not the numerator.
The number of questions from which information is taken for the numerator varies by the current marital or intimate partner status of women. Ever-married women and never-married women who report an intimate partner are asked many more questions about their experience of physical violence than never-married women who do not report any intimate partner because there are several questions on the different types of physical violence perpetrated by women’s husbands/intimate partners in addition to violence perpetrated by anyone else. Women who were first married or had an intimate partner before age 15 and report violence only by their husbands/intimate partners, could have experienced the violence before they were 15.
For some types of violence women are also asked if they experienced the violence frequently or sometimes in the past 12 months. For violence committed by a previous husband/intimate partner, the respondent is asked when the violence last took place, but a question on frequency in the past 12 months is not asked, and the information is included for the combined “often or sometimes” indicator, but not for the separate “often” or “sometimes” indicators. No information on frequency of violence is available for violence during pregnancy.
The questions on physical violence have not changed significantly over time. Till about 2005-06, however, the groups of acts of physical violence were organized somewhat differently. However, since most of the same acts were covered, this indicator is likely to be fairly comparable over time. Another change worth noting is that more recently, from about 2010-11, a question was added for women married more than once that asks specifically about their experience of physical violence by a previous husband/partner. Before this addition, physical violence by a previous husband/partner could only be reported in response to a more general question on women’s experience of physical violence by anyone other than the current husband/partner. For that question, “previous husband/partner” was one of several possible answer codes. From 2021, current or previous husband/partner also includes intimate partners reported by never-married women. Nonetheless, always, but particularly when making comparisons over time, users are strongly advised to check the questions in each survey.
From 2021, the question about violence by the current or most recent husband/partner corresponding to the recode variable d105f was changed from “threaten or attack you with a knife, gun, or other weapon?” to “attack you with a knife, gun, or other weapon?”
See References for this chapter.
DHS-8 Tabulation plan: Table DV.1
API Indicator IDs:
DV_EXPV_W_EVR, DV_EXPV_W_12O, DV_EXPV_W_12S, DV_EXPV_W_12M