Patternsof Intimate Partner Violence: A Study of Female Victimsin Urban Versus Rural Areas of Southeast Iran

Domestic violence is the most common form of violence against women with the most social, psychological, and economic consequences. Partner violence threatens the life of the family and society.

The current study aimed to assess domestic violence against pregnant and non-pregnant women in urban and rural populations.

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 800 pregnant and non-pregnant women referring to urban and rural health centers in Kerman, Iran, in 2015 - 2016. The data were collected using a standardized violence questionnaire and analyzed using the One-way ANOVA for normal variables and non-parametric test (Kruskal-Wallis) was used for non-normal variables.

There were positive significant correlations between the spouse’s education level and physical violence (P = 0.003), sexual violence (P = 0.005), and injury caused by violence (P = 0.041). The residence place had no significant effect (P = 0.69) on the occurrence of physical violence. Rural women experienced significantly more psychological violence, sexual violence, and violence-induced injury than urban women (P = 0). Generally, the overall violence was significantly higher in rural women than in urban women (P < 0.05). The most physical violence, psychological violence, sexual violence, and injury caused by violence were observed in rural non-pregnant women (P < 0.01).

Rural women, especially non-pregnant ones, experienced greater violence than urban women. It suggests that pregnancy is a protective period that reduces the prevalence of violence. The spouse’ education level was a risk factor for committed violence. Therefore, a comprehensive program for the prevention of violence against women and screening of violence in all health centers in the south of Iran are proposed.