What factors are associated with recent intimate partner violence: findings from the WHO multi-country study on women’s health and domestic violence

Intimate partner violence (IPV) against women is a global public health and human rights concern. This multi-country study is sought to identify factors that are consistently associated with abuse across sites, in order to inform the design of IPV prevention programs.

Main findings of the paper are that:

• despite wide variations in the prevalence of IPV, many factors affect IPV risk similarly across sites.
  
• as far as IPV is concerned, high socio-economic status (SES) and formal marriage offer protection to women.
• alcohol abuse, cohabitation, young age, attitudes supportive of wife beating, having outside sexual partners and growing up with domestic violence increase the risk of IPV.
• similarly, experiencing or perpetrating other forms of violence in adulthood increase the risk of IPV.
• since risk of IPV is highest in younger women, schools are an important setting for primary prevention activities.
• particularly, schools have the potential to address issues of relationships, gender roles, power and coercion within existing youth violence and bullying programmes.
  

Identically, the authors propose the following recommendations: 

• although there is no magic bullet to reduce partner violence, a prevention strategy, once validated and refined, might have relevance in a wide range of settings.
• in this sense, initiatives to reduce partner violence are urgent and require commitment and vision–by the international community, local governments and civil society.
• the multi-faceted nature of the factors that influence partner violence highlights the need for a multi-sectoral response.
• such a response should combine development activities, including improved access to secondary education for girls and boys, with initiatives to transform gender norms and attitudes.
• furthermore, IPV prevention programs should increase focus on addressing childhood abuse, and reducing harmful drinking.