Sep 20, 2013 - of marital relations, stressful life events, political violence, ... Strip (occupied Palestinian territoryâOPT) using data from a nationally ...
J Fam Viol (2013) 28:797–809 DOI 10.1007/s10896-013-9549-2
RISK FACTORS FOR VICTIMS AND PERPETRATORS OF VIOLENCE
Intimate Partner Violence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory: Prevalence and Risk Factors Muhammad M. Haj-Yahia & Cari Jo Clark
Published online: 20 September 2013 # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013
Abstract This paper presents results from a nationally representative cross-sectional survey of married women (N =3,500) in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Interviews assessed the 12month prevalence of participants’ exposure to psychological, physical, and sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) and risk factors including: demographic characteristics, several factors of marital relations, stressful life events, political violence, status inconsistency, family size, locality, region, help resources in the community, and locality-level acceptance of wife abuse. The prevalence estimates of IPV were: psychological aggression, 50 % minor and 12 % severe; physical assault, 17 % minor and 6 % severe; and sexual coercion, 4 % minor and 6 % severe. Results revealed that stressful life events, husbands’ controlling behavior, and marital conflicts were related to all forms of IPV (all p-values.05). Greater occurrence of stressful life events was consistently associated with an increase in all forms of IPV. Among the other stressors examined, exposure to political violence was associated with increased odds of IPV, although not statistically significant in all cases. Large family size was similarly suggestive of increased odds of all forms of IPV; however, it was statistically associated only with psychological aggression and minor sexual coercion. Experiencing more control and a higher frequency of marital conflicts were consistently related to increased odds of the occurrence of all forms of IPV, generally in a dose response fashion. Situations in which the husband had greater decision-making power were associated with greater odds of minor psychological aggression. Among the community and social factors, respondents living in rural areas were less likely to report IPV compared to those in refugee camps. Differences between urban and refugee camp residents was less clear. Respondents who reside in the West Bank were more likely to report most types of
J Fam Viol (2013) 28:797–809 Table 1 Sample characteristics (unweighted N =3,500; weighted N =3,382)
803
Individual Demographic Factors
Relationship Factors
Community Factors
Social factors
Respondent’s age, N (%)
