The DHS Program

Intimate Partner Violence and Interruption to Contraceptive Use (English) 

Document Type

Analytical Studies

Publication Topic(s)

Domestic Violence, Family Planning

Country(s)

Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Jordan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Cambodia, Honduras

Language

English

Recommended Citation

MacQuarrie, Kerry L.D., Lindsay Mallick, and Sunita Kishor. 2016. Intimate Partner Violence and Interruption to Contraceptive Use. DHS Analytical Studies No. 57. Rockville, Maryland, USA: ICF International.

Download Citation

RIS format / Text format / Endnote format

Publication Date

August 2016

Publication ID

AS57

Abstract:

This study explores the relationship between intimate partner violence (IPV) and contraceptive discontinuation using data from 11 Demographic and Health Surveys. The study uses detailed data in the reproductive calendars and the domestic violence module of the survey to co-locate contraceptive and IPV experience in the same 12-month observation period. The study examines the odds of discontinuation while still in need (DWSIN) among contraceptive users in relation to the experience of IPV and compares this to discontinuation due to no further need and total discontinuation. The study examines three forms of violence separately— emotional, physical, and sexual violence—and any IPV combined. It finds limited evidence of association between IPV and DWSIN. Where associations exist, they are often weakly significant, of small magnitude, or inconsistent in direction. Emotional violence is associated with greater odds of DWSIN in Egypt and nearly associated in Honduras and Kenya. In the Kyrgyz Republic, emotional violence is nearly significantly associated with lower odds of DWSIN. Findings also vary with the form of violence assessed. Associations between emotional violence and DWSIN are more commonly detected than other forms or any IPV. Sexual violence is positively associated with DWSIN in Jordan and negatively associated with DWSIN in Tajikistan. Positive associations between physical violence (Egypt) or any form of violence (Egypt and Honduras) are of borderline significance. The overall finding that associations are country-specific, rather than global in nature, suggests that the approach to incorporating IPV into family planning programs should likewise take a country-specific approach.