Pregnancy and Intimate Partner Violence in Canada: A Comparison of Victims Who Were and Were Not Abused during Pregnancy

Authors

Tamara L. Taillieu, University of ManitobaFollow
Douglas A. Brownridge, University of ManitobaFollow
Kimberly A. Tyler, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Ko Ling Chan, University of Hong KongFollow
Agnes Tiwari, University of Hong KongFollow
Susy C. Santos, Victoria General Hospital

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

7-2016

Citation

Journal of Family Violence 31:5 (2016), pp. 567–579.

doi: 10.1007/s10896-015-9789-4

Comments

Copyright © 2015 Springer. Used by permission.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine risk factors, indicators of severity, and differences in post-violence health effects for victims who experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy compared to victims who experienced IPV outside the pregnancy period. Data were from Statistics Canada’s 2009 General Social Survey. Among IPV victims, 10.5% experienced physical and/or sexual violence during pregnancy. Victims who had experienced violence during pregnancy were more likely than victims who were not abused during pregnancy to experience both less severe and more severe forms of violence. In fully adjusted models, younger age, separated or divorced marital status, as well as partners’ patriarchal domination, destruction of property, and drinking were significant predictors of pregnancy violence. Measures indicative of more severe violence and of a number of adverse post-violence health effects were significantly elevated among victims who experienced pregnancy violence relative to victims who were not abused during pregnancy. Implications of these findings are discussed.