PMID- 36536339
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20221221
LR  - 20221222
IS  - 1471-2458 (Electronic)
IS  - 1471-2458 (Linking)
VI  - 22
IP  - 1
DP  - 2022 Dec 20
TI  - Prevalence, pattern, and predictors of formal help-seeking for intimate partner 
      violence against women: findings from India's cross-sectional National Family 
      Health Surveys-3 (2005-2006) and 4 (2015-2016).
PG  - 2386
LID - 10.1186/s12889-022-14650-3 [doi]
LID - 2386
AB  - BACKGROUND: Help-seeking for intimate partner violence (IPV) requires women to 
      disclose their experiences. For policymakers, low help-seeking threatens the 
      United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of gender equality, good 
      health, and wellbeing. In India, the Prevention of Domestic Violence Against 
      Women Act (PWDVA 2005) was implemented in 2006. Using two rounds of the India 
      National Family Health Survey (NFHS), one before and one after implementation, we 
      examined the prevalence, pattern, and sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors 
      associated with formal help-seeking for IPV. METHODS: We used univariable and 
      multivariable logistic regression models to assess the prevalence of help-seeking 
      for IPV in the past 12 months and examined associations with different forms of 
      IPV and sociodemographic factors. RESULTS: The proportion of ever-married women 
      aged 15-49 years who reported physical, sexual, or emotional IPV in the last 
      12 months increased from 23% in NFHS-3 (2005-2006) to 25% in NFHS-4 (2015-2016). 
      In both surveys, few women sought help. Informal sources of help were preferred 
      over formal sources, which declined from NFHS-3 to NFHS-4 (any help: 24.5 to 
      13.8%; informal help: 24.1 to 13.4%; and formal help: 1.2 to 1.1%). Women from 
      lower castes and women with children were less likely to seek formal help. Over 
      the two surveys, the odds of formal help-seeking for sexual IPV in the past 
      12 months remained similar (NFHS-3 aOR 1.9, 95% CI 1.4, 2.5. NFHS-4 aOR 1.9, 95% 
      CI 1.4, 2.6). The odds were slightly higher for emotional IPV (NFHS-3 aOR 2.5, 
      95% CI 1.8, 3.3. NFHS-4 aOR 2.7, 95% CI 2.0, 3.7) and spousal control (NFHS-3 aOR 
      2.0, 95% CI 1.4, 3.0. NFHS-4 aOR 2.3, 95% CI: 1.4, 3.7). CONCLUSIONS: Low 
      disclosure and help-seeking impact a country's social, cultural, economic, and 
      political progress. The PWDVA did not appear to result in increases in 
      help-seeking among women in India who experienced IPV. Further work is needed to 
      understand barriers to help-seeking in the presence of public policy efforts to 
      support women affected by IPV. These may include poor implementation and 
      enforcement of Policy, as well as normalization and justification of gender-based 
      violence. We recommend a deeper understanding of help-seeking across all systems 
      to establish a barometer of help-seeking. An increase in formal or informal 
      help-seeking is an indicator of reduced tolerance of IPV and the enabling 
      environment of the PWDVA 2005 for tracking progress toward the SDGs of gender 
      equality and the eradication of all forms of gender-based violence and 
      discrimination.
CI  - (c) 2022. The Author(s).
FAU - Kanougiya, Suman
AU  - Kanougiya S
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-0007-3157
AD  - School of Health Systems Studies (SHSS), Tata Institute of Social Sciences 
      (TISS), Mumbai, India. suman.kanougiya@gmail.com.
FAU - Sivakami, Muthusamy
AU  - Sivakami M
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0001-6861-7603
AD  - School of Health Systems Studies (SHSS), Tata Institute of Social Sciences 
      (TISS), Mumbai, India.
FAU - Daruwalla, Nayreen
AU  - Daruwalla N
AD  - Program on Prevention of Violence Against Women and Children, SNEHA, Mumbai, 
      Maharashtra, 400017, India.
FAU - Osrin, David
AU  - Osrin D
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0001-9691-9684
AD  - Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, WC1N IEH, UK. 
      d.osrin@ucl.ac.uk.
LA  - eng
GR  - 206417/Z/17/Z/WT_/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
DEP - 20221220
PL  - England
TA  - BMC Public Health
JT  - BMC public health
JID - 100968562
SB  - IM
MH  - Child
MH  - Humans
MH  - Female
MH  - Cross-Sectional Studies
MH  - Prevalence
MH  - *Intimate Partner Violence
MH  - India/epidemiology
MH  - Health Surveys
MH  - Sexual Partners/psychology
MH  - Risk Factors
PMC - PMC9764516
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - Help-seeking
OT  - India
OT  - Intimate partner violence
OT  - National Family and health surveys
COIS- The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
EDAT- 2022/12/20 06:00
MHDA- 2022/12/22 06:00
PMCR- 2022/12/20
CRDT- 2022/12/19 23:48
PHST- 2022/03/22 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2022/11/16 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2022/12/19 23:48 [entrez]
PHST- 2022/12/20 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2022/12/22 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2022/12/20 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 10.1186/s12889-022-14650-3 [pii]
AID - 14650 [pii]
AID - 10.1186/s12889-022-14650-3 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - BMC Public Health. 2022 Dec 20;22(1):2386. doi: 10.1186/s12889-022-14650-3.