Assessment of Different Types of Domestic Violence Against Pregnant Mothers Exposed to Violence in Sahneh City

The high prevalence of domestic violence causes undesirable physical and mental effects on a large community of pregnant women. In addition, it can also affect the fetus health either directly or indirectly and impose tangible and intangible costs on society and the family. Hence, the present study aimed to determine different types of domestic violence against pregnant mothers. The present research was a descriptive cross-sectional study that was conducted on 92 pregnant women exposed to moderate domestic violence in Sahneh, Kermanshah Province, Iran in 2017. The participants were selected based on convenience sampling method and the data were collected using a questionnaire developed by MohseniTabrizi. The obtained data were statistically analyzed in SPSSv.16. The questionnaire data showed that the 92 women participating in this study were under moderate to severe domestic violence. Different types of domestic violence against them were as follows: emotional violence (52.29%), psychological violence (45.9%), verbal violence (54%), financial violence (38.05%), physical violence (35.96%), sexual violence (25.7%), and social violence (55.9%). Therefore, the most and the least prevalent types of domestic violence against the participants are social violence and sexual violence, respectively. Considering the high prevalence of different types of domestic violence against pregnant women, it is necessary to perform domestic violence screening for all pregnant women visiting health centers. In addition, development and implementation of interventions, such as life skills training and promotion of couple counselling, can be effective in the reduction of domestic violence in such families.