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Does It Make Any Difference if She Is a Mother?: An Interactional Perspective on Intimate Partner Violence With a Focus on Motherhood and Pregnancy

NCJ Number
237801
Journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 25 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2010 Pages: 94-110
Author(s)
Solveig Karin Bø Vatnar; Stål Bjørkly
Date Published
January 2010
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This study reported on the impact of motherhood and pregnancy on interactional aspects of intimate partner violence (IPV) among help-seeking women.
Abstract
The authors report on the impact of motherhood and pregnancy on interactional aspects of intimate partner violence (IPV) among help-seeking women. Is having children a protective or a risk factor for IPV severity, injury, duration, frequency, and mortal danger, controlling for sociodemographics? Regarding interactional aspects of IPV, do survivors who experience IPV during pregnancy differ from those who do not? Is IPV during pregnancy characterized by different severity, injury, frequency, and mortal danger? A representative sample of women was interviewed. Motherhood increased the risk for longer duration of physical, psychological, and sexual IPV, even controlling for duration of partnership. Combinations of main categories of IPV during pregnancy were different from when not pregnant. Duration of physical and psychological IPV was the only variable increasing the likelihood of experiencing IPV during pregnancy. All physical IPV variables were significantly lower during pregnancy. For psychological IPV, all variables but frequency were lower. Only mortal danger was significantly lower in the sexual IPV main category. (Published Abstract)