Violence Against Women in Mexico: A Study of Abuse Before and During Pregnancy
Roberto Castro, PhD,
Corinne Peek-Asa, PhD and
Agustin Ruiz, MSc
Roberto Castro and Agustin Ruiz are with the Regional Center of Multidisciplinary Research, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Cuernavaca. Corinne Peek-Asa is with the Injury Prevention Research Center, University of Iowa, Iowa City.
Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Roberto Castro, PhD, Centro Regional de Investigaciones Multidisciplinarias, Apartado Postal 4-106, 62431, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico (e-mail: rcastro{at}servidor.unam.mx).
Objective. We identified the prevalence and types of violenceexperienced by pregnant women, the ways victimization changedduring pregnancy from the year prior to pregnancy, and factorsassociated with violence during pregnancy.
Methods. We interviewed 914 pregnant women treated in healthclinics in Mexico about violence during and prior to pregnancy,violence during childhood and against their own children, andother socioeconomic indicators.
Results. Approximately one quarter of the women experiencedviolence during pregnancy. The severity of emotional violenceincreased during pregnancy, whereas physical and sexual violencedecreased. The strongest predictors of abuse were violence priorto pregnancy, low socioeconomic status, parental violence witnessedby women in childhood, and violence in the abusive partnerschildhood. The probability of violence during pregnancy forwomen experiencing all of these factors was 61%.
Conclusions. Violence is common among pregnant women, but pregnancydoes not appear to be an initiating factor. Intergenerationalviolence is highly predictive of violence during pregnancy.
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