FACTORS RELATED TO DOMESTIC VIOLENCE DURING PREGNANCY AMONG MARRIED WOMEN OF LAHORE, PAKISTAN

Purpose: Domestic violence against females is an important societal issue and the researches shows that one out of every 5 women experiences it from the male partner. The purpose of study was to examine the factors related to domestic violence during pregnancy among married females of Lahore, Pakistan.

Methods: Descriptive cross sectional study was carried out. There were 140 females selected through multistage sampling technique from four different towns of Lahore. SPSS 19 has been used for data analysis which showed in the form of frequencies and percentages.

Results: The results showed that 77.1% women married at the age of 20 years or less. Just 14.3% women having secondary and tertiary education. More than half of the participants 69.3% had family history of violence, 63.6% had patriarchal dominance, 65% had smoking and abused verbally.it showed that 85.7% of pregnant women having domestic violence in their life time. Domestic violence may be in the form of psychological, physical, sexual, or verbal abuse which were 85.7%, 75%, 66% and 65%   respectively.

Conclusion: Domestic violence is still very high in our country which is just not affect pregnant women but also their babies. Therefore, there is more chances of preterm labor in those women who experienced domestic violence like depression, harassment, scolding from her male partner which can further complicate the situation. So cautions must be taken in light of this research to place the female as well as the child at safer side as much as possible by mitigating the risk factors.

Keywords: Factors, domestic, violence, pregnancy, women, married, Pakistan, Lahore