TY - JOUR
T1 - Attitudes towards gender roles and prevalence of intimate partner violence perpetrated against pregnant and postnatal women
T2 - Differences between women immigrants from conflict-affected countries and women born in Australia
AU - Hicks, Madelyn Hsiao Rei
AU - Mohsin, Mohammed
AU - Silove, Derrick
AU - Fisher, Jane
AU - Moussa, Batool
AU - Steel, Zachary
AU - Nancarrow, Heather
AU - Nadar, Nawal
AU - Klein, Louis
AU - Hasoun, Fatima
AU - Yousif, Mariam
AU - Khalil, Batoul
AU - Krishna, Yalini
AU - Rees, Susan J.
N1 - Funding Information:
SR received funds from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Australia. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright: © 2021 Hicks et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/7
Y1 - 2021/7
N2 - Background The aim was to compare, for the first time in a large systematic study, women born in conflict-affected countries who immigrated to Australia with women born in Australia for attitudes towards gender roles and men's use of IPV and the actual prevalence of IPV. The study also examined if any associations remained across the two timepoints of pregnancy and postpartum. Methods Women were interviewed during their first visit to one of three Australian public hospital antenatal clinics and re-interviewed at home six months after giving birth. A total of 1111 women completed both interviews, 583 were born in conflict-affected countries and 528 born in Australia. Associations between attitudes towards gender roles and men's use of IPV, socio-demographic characteristics and reported actual experiences of IPV were examined using bivariate and multiple logistic regression analyses. Results Attitudes toward inequitable gender roles including those that condone men's use of IPV, and prevalence of IPV, were significantly higher (p<0.001) among women born in conflict-affected countries compared to Australia-born women. Women born in conflict-affected countries with the strongest held attitudes towards gender roles and men's use of IPV had an adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of 3.18 for IPV at baseline (95% CI 1.85-5.47) and an aOR of 1.83 for IPV at follow-up (95% CI 1.11-3.01). Women born in Australia with the strongest held attitudes towards gender roles and IPV had an aOR of 7.12 for IPV at baseline (95% CI 2.12-23.92) and an aOR of 10.59 for IPV at follow-up (95% CI 2.21-50.75). Conclusions Our results underscore the need for IPV prevention strategies sensitively targeted to communities from conflict-affected countries, and for awareness among clinicians of gender role attitudes that may condone men's use of IPV, and the associated risk of IPV. The study supports the need for culturally informed national strategies to promote gender equality and to challenge practices and attitudes that condone men's violence in spousal relationships.
AB - Background The aim was to compare, for the first time in a large systematic study, women born in conflict-affected countries who immigrated to Australia with women born in Australia for attitudes towards gender roles and men's use of IPV and the actual prevalence of IPV. The study also examined if any associations remained across the two timepoints of pregnancy and postpartum. Methods Women were interviewed during their first visit to one of three Australian public hospital antenatal clinics and re-interviewed at home six months after giving birth. A total of 1111 women completed both interviews, 583 were born in conflict-affected countries and 528 born in Australia. Associations between attitudes towards gender roles and men's use of IPV, socio-demographic characteristics and reported actual experiences of IPV were examined using bivariate and multiple logistic regression analyses. Results Attitudes toward inequitable gender roles including those that condone men's use of IPV, and prevalence of IPV, were significantly higher (p<0.001) among women born in conflict-affected countries compared to Australia-born women. Women born in conflict-affected countries with the strongest held attitudes towards gender roles and men's use of IPV had an adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of 3.18 for IPV at baseline (95% CI 1.85-5.47) and an aOR of 1.83 for IPV at follow-up (95% CI 1.11-3.01). Women born in Australia with the strongest held attitudes towards gender roles and IPV had an aOR of 7.12 for IPV at baseline (95% CI 2.12-23.92) and an aOR of 10.59 for IPV at follow-up (95% CI 2.21-50.75). Conclusions Our results underscore the need for IPV prevention strategies sensitively targeted to communities from conflict-affected countries, and for awareness among clinicians of gender role attitudes that may condone men's use of IPV, and the associated risk of IPV. The study supports the need for culturally informed national strategies to promote gender equality and to challenge practices and attitudes that condone men's violence in spousal relationships.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85111519443&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0255105
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0255105
M3 - Article
C2 - 34329321
AN - SCOPUS:85111519443
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 16
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
IS - 7
M1 - e0255105
ER -