Abstract:

The research aims at studying the case of exposure of women to physical violence during pregnancy and determining the effect of pregnancy in favor or against the domestic physical violence against women, and the relation between the physical violence and the socio-demographic characteristics. The average age of the pregnant women is found to be 27.37±5.01, the average age of marriage is 22.14±4.17 as the result of the research. It is found that the 18.5% of the pregnant women have been exposed to violence before their pregnancy, 16.6% of pregnant women with previous pregnancy experiences have been exposed to violence in their previous pregnancies and that 10.3% of them are being exposed to physical violence during their current pregnancies. The prevalence of being exposed to physical violence in any phase of the marriage is 19,9%. The 40.7% of the women with previous exposure to physical violence before their pregnancy are still exposed to violence during their pregnancy whereas 59.3% of them are not (p=0.01). It’s observed that the pregnant women older than 35 and younger than 25, and the pregnant women with lowerincome are exposed to higher level of violence (p=0.00), (p=0.02). A statistical correlation has been drawn between the education level and the family backgrounds of the couples, and the level of exposure to violence during pregnancy (p=0.00). In the study conducted, the tough economical conditions are stated as the primary cause of violence by the pregnant women. In conclusion, the physical violence against women continues to be a woman’s health problem also during their pregnancies.

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