In 2023, almost one out of three ever-partnered Turkish women had experienced domestic violence. In comparison, only 12 percent of women living in Switzerland had experienced domestic violence in their lifetime.

As of 2024, Timor-Leste had the highest prevalence of domestic violence against women in the Asia-Pacific region, with ** percent of women having experienced physical or sexual violence in a partnership before. In contrast, approximately *** percent of women in Singapore had experienced domestic violence as of 2024.

In 2019, the highest percentage of females who suffered from intimate partner violence in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region was in Iraq at about **** percent of the females. Within the region, Syria, Libya and Iraq have been suffering from conflict and humanitarian crises.

In 2022, an estimated ***** femicides were reported in ******, making it the European country with the highest number of such crimes. Femicides, defined as the gender-based killing of women and girls, represent the most extreme form of violence against women. That same year, Turkey, and the United Kingdom ranked second and third, with *** and *** cases, respectively.

7.7% of White women reported being the victim of domestic abuse in the year to March 2020, compared with 3.6% of White men.

In late March of 2020, many governments in Latin America imposed lockdowns in order to avoid the further spread of the virus SARS-CoV-2. As a result of the isolation, a steep rise of gender violence and family abuse cases was identified in several countries in the region. For instance, Mexico's domestic violence reports increased 25 percent in March 2020, in comparison to the same month of the previous year. In Argentina, a hotline for sexual violence victims received more than two thirds more phone calls in April 2020, compared to a year earlier. Argentina is one of the Latin American countries with the highest number of femicide victims.

Financial inclusion is an area of growing global interest in women’s empowerment policy and programming. While increased economic autonomy may be expected to reduce the prevalence of intimate partner violence, the mechanisms and contexts through which this relationship manifests are not well understood. This analysis aims to assess the relationship between women’s financial inclusion and recent intimate partner violence using nationally-representative data from 112 countries worldwide. Levels of both financial inclusion and recent intimate partner violence varied substantially across countries (ranging from 2–100%, and 1–46%, respectively), and across regions. In multivariate global analyses, increased levels of women’s financial inclusion were associated with lower levels of recent intimate partner violence after accounting for asset-based enablers of economic autonomy and gender norms; this relationship was lost upon the inclusion of measures of national context (i.e., development and fragility). These results underscore that the relationship between financial inclusion and recent intimate partner violence is complex, follows many pathways, and is affected by context. In low and middle income countries, asset-based enablers of economic autonomy, gender norms and national context explained much of the relationship between financial inclusion and recent intimate partner violence. In those low and middle income countries with high levels of controlling behavior by male spouses, financial inclusion was associated with higher levels of recent intimate partner violence. These findings further suggest that initiatives that aim to prevent intimate partner violence by way of increased economic autonomy may be ineffective in the absence of broader social change and support, and indeed, as seen in countries with higher levels of men’s controlling behavior, backlash may increase the risk of violence. Efforts to improve women’s financial inclusion need to recognize that its relationship with intimate partner violence is complex, and that it requires an enabling environment supportive of women’s rights and autonomy.

BackgroundViolence against women perpetrated by an intimate partner (IPV) is prevalent in low- and middle-income countries (LAMIC). The aim was to describe the attitudes of women and men towards perpetration of physical violence to women by an intimate partner, in a large group of low- and middle-income countries.Methods and FindingsWe used data from Round Four of the UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys. Attitudes towards IPV against women were assessed by a study-specific scale asking if ‘wife beating’ is justified in any of five circumstances.Overall, data from 39 countries (all had data from women and 13 countries also had data from men) were included in the analyses. The proportions of women who held attitudes that ‘wife-beating’ was justified in any of the five circumstances varied widely among countries from 2.0% (95% CI 1.7;2.3) in Argentina to 90.2% (95% CI 88.9;91.5) in Afghanistan. Similarly, among men it varied from 5.0% (95% CI 4.0;6.0) in Belarus to 74.5% (95% CI 72.5;76.4) in the Central African Republic. The belief that ‘wife-beating’ is acceptable was most common in Africa and South Asia, and least common in Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean. In general this belief was more common among people in disadvantaged circumstances, including being a member of a family in the lowest household wealth quintile, living in a rural area and having limited formal education. Young adults were more likely to accept physical abuse by a man of his intimate partner than those who were older, but people who had never partnered were less likely to have these attitudes.ConclusionsViolence against women is an international priority and requires a multicomponent response. These data provide evidence that strategies should include major public education programs to change attitudes about the acceptability of IPV against women, and that these should be addressed to women and girls as well as to boys and men.

Prevalence of attitudes justifying domestic violence in the 49 low- and middle-income countries across geographical regions (weighted).

Abstract

Violence against women (VAW), in its many forms and manifestations, and across all settings, is a violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Around the world, many women experience violence regardless of age, class, race and ethnicity. Most of this violence is driven by the fact that they are women, and related to gender roles in society. Violence against women is predominately perpetrated by men, and most often by intimate partners. According to most recent global estimates, 35% of women aged 15 years or older globally have experienced physical and/or sexual violence during their lifetime (Devries et al., 2013; WHO, 2013). Intimate partner violence is the leading cause of homicide in women globally (Stockl et al., 2013) and has many other major short- and long-term health consequences (WHO, 2013). The economic and social costs associated with VAW are significant, and global evidence shows that violence consistently undermines development efforts at various levels, affecting physical, human and social capital (WHO, 2005). In Cambodia, the state of research on violence against women points toward widespread experiences of violence across the country (CDHS, 2012; Fulu et al., 21013). Women of all cultures and classes are subjected to many forms of physical, psychological, sexual and economic violence. This includes, but is not limited to intimate partner violence (IPV), rape and sexual assault, sexual harassment, acid violence and trafficking (MoWA, 2008). The Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) has made a strong commitment to addressing violence against women by introducing a number of legislative and policy reforms including domestic violence legislation and a national action plan. Cambodia has demonstrated its strong commitment to promoting gender equality and ending VAW by ratifying several core international human rights conventions. In addition, there is widespread recognition among Cambodian government leaders that having quality data on the prevalence and health and other consequences of different forms of VAW is essential to increase awareness, inform evidencebased programming and policies, including the NAPVAW, and to monitor progress in the implementations of such interventions. Between 2014-2015, to fill the identified knowledge gaps, the Royal Government of Cambodia with support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and UN Women conducted a national prevalence study using the WHO multicountry study methodology. This methodology was selected because it has been widely used and is known to produce reliable data, that can be used for cross-country comparisons, and it adheres to internationally recognized ethical and safety standards.

Specific Objectives: Among specific objectives, the following deserve special mention:

ESTIMATE THE PREVALENCE AND FREQUENCY of different forms of VAW: physical, sexual, emotional and economic violence against women by intimate partners, as well as sexual and physical violence by perpetrators other than partners (in this document also referred to as ‘nonpartners’) since the age of 15, and sexual violence before the age of 15;

DETERMINE THE ASSOCIATION of physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence with a range of health and other outcomes; IDENTIFY FACTORS that may be associated with either reducing (protective factors) or increasing (risk factors) women’s risk of hysical and/or sexual intimate partner violence; DOCUMENT THE STRATEGIES and services that women use to cope with violence by an intimate partner.

INCREASE NATIONAL CAPACITY and collaboration among researchers and women’s organisations working on domestic violence;

INCREASE AWARENESS about and sensitivity to partner violence among researchers, policymakers and health care providers;

CONTRIBUTE TO THE DEVELOPMENT of a network of people committed to addressing

Geographic coverage

National

Analysis unit

Households Individuals

The data were analysed by WHO using STATA 14. Mean values, frequencies and proportions are presented with exact 95% confidence intervals for binary data. Univariate logistic regression was used and multivariable logistic models were developed to test associations between IPV and different health measures.

Universe

All resident households in Cambodia

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

• The survey sample design was developed by the NIS in the Ministry of Planning. A multi-stage sampling strategy was used based on a sampling frame that took into consideration the 24 provinces in the country delineated into a total of 225 districts for a total of 14,172 "villages" or 28,701 enumeration areas (EAs) in the country. The sample is self-weighted at the household level.

• The results achieved on VAW 2015 sampling design is already completed and describes as follows: a.Two level of survey results will be produces as: first at National level and second sub-national (Urban and Rural) b.Survey methods of VAW 2015 were designed bases on the three- stage stratified cluster sampling. b1. First stage: selected the sample Enumeration area consisting of 200 sample EAs b2. Second stage: selected the sample households consisting of 4,000 households b3. Selected the sample Women consisting of 4,000 eligible women

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Cleaning operations

The questionnaire was programmed into electronic format using CAPI software, which allowed interviewers to enter the responses to questions directly into the electronic devises that were uploaded on a daily basis. Data entry was therefore not required. The software directly checked internal consistency, range and error checking, and skip patterns of the responses at the point of entering the answers during the interview. The uploaded files were aggregated at a central level and were immediately available for data analysis.

Response rate

Eligible woman response rate: 98% Household response rate: 99.5% Household refused: 0.5%

Sampling error estimates

Sample size calculations: Z (95% Confidence Interval), the value of 1.96 P = 30%. In many countries were data are available, lifetime intimate partner sexual violence often reaches 25-30% and lifetime intimate partner physical violence is 65-70%. In a normal distribution the highest variance for a factor would be at the 50% level (resulting in needing a very large sample) and the lowest variance would be at the extremes (needing the smallest sample). We compromise at 30% which is identical to assuming 70% so the resulting sample size is large, but not unmanageable. DEFF = 2. We have used this value for all the national surveys, to date. E = 0.02291. We calculate the sample size using margin of error 2.291%.

The sample size results are as follow: Confidence Level :1.96 Margin of Error (MOE): 0.02291 Baseline levels of the indicator: 0.3 Design effect (Deff): 2 Sample size (n) - Female: 3,074

ObjectivesDespite high levels of physical violence against children (VAC) globally (40–50%), the literature on the determinants of VAC remains inconclusive. Most of the literature on this topic is based on cross-sectional data, and the multi-level nature of the drivers of VAC is widely ignored. This leads to model specification problems and an inability to draw causal inferences. Moreover, despite the higher prevalence of VAC in low-and middle-income countries, studies from high income countries dominate the field. We examined the determinants of physical domestic VAC to address these gaps in the literature.MethodsData were collected between 2001 and 2020 from 762 mother–child dyads recruited in the Maternal and Infant Nutrition Interventions in Matlab (MINIMat) study in Bangladesh. We conducted multi-level logistic regression analyses to identify the determinants of physical domestic VAC.ResultsPrevalence of physical domestic violence against girls (69%) and boys (62%) was extremely high. Community-level prevalence of physical domestic VAC increased the likelihood of physical domestic VAC at the individual level across gender (girls - OR-5.66; 95% CI- 3.11-10.32; boys - OR-7.67; CI- 3.95-14.91). While physical domestic violence against mothers was not associated with physical domestic violence against girls, it reduced the likelihood of such violence against boys by 47%. Having 3 or more siblings predicted physical domestic violence against girls (OR-1.97; 95% CI- 1.01-3.81 for 3 siblings; OR-4.58; 95% CI- 2.12-9.90 for 4 or more siblings), but not against boys. While girls in Hindu families were more likely to experience this violence, the boys were not. Mother’s education, employment non-governmental organization (NGO) participation and, household wealth did not predict this violence against any gender.ConclusionWe contend that physical domestic violence against mothers reflects an emphasized patriarchal culture in a family where a boy is less likely to experience physical domestic violence. Social norms and social learning theories explain the greater likelihood of a child experiencing physical domestic violence in a village with a higher level of such violence. We conclude that social norms around physical domestic VAC and patriarchal culture need to be changed to effectively address this violence.

This dataset was collected online in 2022 and 2023 via Google Forms to explore the relationships between various forms of intimate partner violence (IPV) and mental health outcomes, specifically suicidal ideation, depression, and anxiety, among Arabic-speaking women in Arab countries. Due to the highly sensitive nature of IPV and suicidality in these regions (for example, considering cultural sensitivities like masslaha), rigorous privacy and confidentiality measures were implemented. After recording the responses, all data was securely transferred from Google Forms to a secure storage system, and the original responses were removed from the platform to prevent unauthorized access.

The study findings highlight significant correlations between psychological abuse and suicidal ideation, with results indicating that women experiencing economic violence are also at a substantially higher risk of suicidality. Additionally, strong associations were observed between suicidality and both depression and anxiety, underscoring the critical psychological impacts IPV has on women in these settings.

Participants were all women, with a mean age of 32.78, who had experienced IPV in the prior six months. Inclusion criteria required participants to (a) be at least 18 years of age, (b) read English at an intermediate level or higher, (c) provide informed consent, and (d) reside in an Arab country while meeting IPV experience criteria based on screening measures. Exclusion criteria applied to those displaying random response patterns, incomplete responses, or existing chronic illnesses like HIV, cancer, or a history of psychiatric hospitalization, which could confound results.

For data collection, we developed an online survey incorporating several validated instruments, including the Cyber Aggression in Relationships Scale (CARS), the Revised Scale of Economic Abuse (SEA2), the Revised Composite Abuse Scale - Short Form (CASR-SF), and the Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation (BSSI), along with a demographic checklist. This survey, designed in English, was disseminated via social media channels like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. To enhance outreach, we identified relevant IPV-related posts and shared the survey link in the comments to target potential participants who might benefit from contributing to this study.

Given the sensitive nature of suicidality-related data, participants were fully informed of the measures taken to safeguard their responses. Our approach emphasized privacy at every step, from secure data transfer to the deletion of data from Google Forms once safely stored. We are pleased to share this anonymized dataset with researchers specializing in women’s studies or IPV-related issues in the Middle East to encourage further investigation and insights into this critical topic.

Abstract Background Intimate partner violence (IPV) affects millions of women each year and has been recognized as a leading cause of poor health, disability, and death among women of reproductive age. However, the existing studies about the association between IPV and contraceptive use have been found to be conflicting and relatively less studied, particularly in low and middle income countries, including Eastern Sub Saharan Africa (SSA). This study examines the relationship between IPV and contraceptive use in Eastern SSA countries. Methods The Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) from 2014 to 2017 were a multi-stage cluster sample survey of 30,715 ever married (or cohabitating) women of reproductive age from six countries. The six Eastern SSA datasets were pooled and multivariable logistic regression using a hierarchical approach was performed to examine the association between IPV and contraceptive use after adjusting for women, partners, and household and health facility factors. Result Two thirds of women 67% [66.55, 67.88] were not using any modern contraceptive methods and almost half (48%) of the women had experienced at least one form of IPV from their partners. Our analysis showed a strong association with decreased odds of physical violence [adjusted odds ratios (aOR) = 0.72, 95%CI: 0.67, 0 0.78] among women not using any contraceptive methods. Other factors associated with women not using any contraceptive methods were older women (35–49 years), illiterate couples and women from poorest households. Women who had no access to any form of communication [aOR = 1.12, 95%CI: 1.08, 1.36], unemployed partner [aOR = 1.55, 95%CI: 1.23, 1.95] and women who travelled long distances to access health services [aOR = 1.16, 95%CI: 1.06, 1.26] significantly reported increased odds of not using any contraceptive methods. Conclusion Our study indicated that physical violence was negatively associated with not using any contraceptive method among married women in Eastern SSA countries. Tailored intervention messages to reduce IPV including physical violence among women not using contraceptive methods in East Africa should target those from low-socioeconomic groups especially, older women with no access to any form of communication, unemployed partners, and illiterate couples.

About Violence Against Women & Girls

The Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Program exists to advance the global understanding of health and population trends in developing countries.

The UN describes violence against women and girls (VAWG) as: “One of the most widespread, persistent, and devastating human rights violations in our world today. It remains largely unreported due to the impunity, silence, stigma, and shame surrounding it.”

In general terms, it manifests itself in physical, sexual, and psychological forms, encompassing: • intimate partner violence (battering, psychological abuse, marital rape, femicide) • sexual violence and harassment (rape, forced sexual acts, unwanted sexual advances, child sexual abuse, forced marriage, street harassment, stalking, cyber-harassment), human trafficking (slavery, sexual exploitation) • female genital mutilation • child marriage

About The Data

The data was taken from a survey of men and women in African, Asian, and South American countries, exploring the attitudes and perceived justifications given for committing acts of violence against women. The data also explores different sociodemographic groups that the respondents belong to, including: Education Level, Marital status, Employment, and Age group.

It is, therefore, critical that the countries where these views are widespread, prioritize public awareness campaigns, and access to education for women and girls, to communicate that violence against women and girls is never acceptable or justifiable.

Question | Respondents were asked if they agreed with the following statements: - A husband is justified in hitting or beating his wife if she burns the food - A husband is justified in hitting or beating his wife if she argues with him - A husband is justified in hitting or beating his wife if she goes out without telling him - A husband is justified in hitting or beating his wife if she neglects the children - A husband is justified in hitting or beating his wife if she refuses to have sex with him - A husband is justified in hitting or beating his wife for at least one specific reason

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Interviews with 504 men receiving community treatment for alcohol and/or drugs in London and South East England, England (n=223) and Sao Paulo, Brazil (n=281) using a questionnaire to determine the lifetime and 12-month prevalence and factors associated with ever perpetrating intimate partner violence (IPV). Emotional, physical and/or sexual IPV, controlling behaviours, adverse childhood experiences, attitudes towards gender relations and roles, current health state, substance use, depressive symptoms and anger expression were assessed. Thereafter, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 40 (20 from England and 20 from Brazil) of the men who had reported IPV perpetration in the questionnaire interview. Intimate partner violence (IPV) (physical, sexual or psychological abuse) occurs in all countries, cultures and among all ethnic groups; however, there are culture-specific characteristics that need to be considered in prevention and treatment including: cultural definitions and expectations of appropriate sex roles, belief in the inherent superiority of males and acceptability of violence in conflict resolution. Despite this, our understanding of the role that cultural beliefs play in IPV perpetration is limited. Males in substance abuse treatment are more likely to be violent towards their female partners than non-substance abusers. Research suggests that 34-68% of men in substance abuse treatment have a history of IPV. Despite this, many perpetrator interventions do not address substance use, and therefore, reach far fewer individuals than substance abuse treatment programmes could. As a result, it has been argued that treatment for IPV should be integrated into substance abuse treatment. Currently, most substance abuse services lack the competencies to respond effectively to IPV. Few studies have examined IPV perpetration among substance abusers. None have examined cross-cultural issues. This project examined and compared the prevalence and cultural construction of IPV perpetration by males in substance abuse treatment in London and South East England (England) and Sao Paulo (Brazil). In addition, current policies, treatment protocols and care pathways for male substance abusing perpetrators in both countries were reviewed, and key stakeholders interviewed to identify the barriers and facilitators to working with this client group. The research informed the development of an evidence and theory based cross-cultural capacity framework for working effectively with male perpetrators in substance abuse treatment. An International Learning Alliance Steering Group of expert academics, practitioners and policy makers from England, Brazil, Spain and the US was established at the initiation of the project; to strengthen and support the exchange and dissemination of information, research, best practice and policy, and to determine how alcohol and drug services can best respond to IPV perpetration. In addition, local Learning Alliance networks of service users and providers, policy makers and academics were established in both London and Sao Paulo to develop cross-sector solutions to this complex problem, building on the knowledge transferred from this project into practice, thereby improving interventions for substance abusers who perpetrate IPV. The major potential benefit of this project is the capacity framework, developed collaboratively and inter-disciplinarily by members participating in the International Learning Alliance Steering Group and the local Learning Alliance networks in London and Sao Paulo. The framework considers how best to identify, assess and respond to intimate partner violence in substance abuse treatment and will clearly lay out the expected minimum standards for practice in working with perpetrators for the three levels of the substance abuse treatment workforce. The mainstreaming of IPV perpetration interventions to substance abuse treatment will ensure that perpetrator interventions reach a wider number of perpetrators than the Criminal Justice or Domestic Violence programmes alone and may decrease substance use and violence and improve the family functioning as a whole. In addition, these local partnerships between the substance abuse and domestic violence sectors will foster collaborative and cross-agency working; and raise awareness of the need for integrated policy for both sectors. Annually, IPV costs in the UK are estimated at £36.7 billion. Potential benefits of this work include the reduction of IPV perpetration by male substance abusers that should lead to a reduction in the resulting financial burden. Quantitative interviews: a convenience sample of 519 participants were recruited during November 2014 to June 2015 by researchers in six public health system funded outpatient community substance use services in São Paulo, Brazil, London and South East England. Men aged 18 or older, who were engaged in outpatient substance use treatment and were able to give informed consent, were eligible to participate. Qualitative interviews: men who reported having perpetrated IPV (including physical, psychological and sexual violence) in Phase 1 were informed after the questionnaire interview about the possibility of an additional in-depth interview. Forty men were purposively sampled to include a range of ages, types of substance and violence perpetrated in order to generate the maximum range of perspectives and experiences.

BackgroundDrought has many known deleterious impacts on human health, but little is known about the relationship between drought and intimate partner violence (IPV). We aimed to evaluate this relationship and to assess effect heterogeneity between population subgroups among women in 19 sub-Saharan African countries.Methods and findingsWe used data from 19 Demographic and Health Surveys from 2011 to 2018 including 83,990 partnered women aged 15–49 years. Deviations in rainfall in the year before the survey date were measured relative to the 29 previous years using Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station data, with recent drought classified as ordinal categorical variable (severe: ≤10th percentile; mild/moderate: >10th percentile to ≤30th percentile; none: >30th percentile). We considered 4 IPV-related outcomes: reporting a controlling partner (a risk factor for IPV) and experiencing emotional violence, physical violence, or sexual violence in the 12 months prior to survey. Logistic regression was used to estimate marginal risk differences (RDs). We evaluated the presence of effect heterogeneity by age group and employment status. Of the 83,990 women included in the analytic sample, 10.7% (9,019) experienced severe drought and 23.4% (19,639) experienced mild/moderate drought in the year prior to the survey, with substantial heterogeneity across countries. The mean age of respondents was 30.8 years (standard deviation 8.2). The majority of women lived in rural areas (66.3%) and were married (73.3%), while less than half (42.6%) were literate. Women living in severe drought had higher risk of reporting a controlling partner (marginal RD in percentage points = 3.0, 95% CI 1.3, 4.6; p < 0.001), experiencing physical violence (marginal RD = 0.8, 95% CI 0.1, 1.5; p = 0.019), and experiencing sexual violence (marginal RD = 1.2, 95% CI 0.4, 2.0; p = 0.001) compared with women not experiencing drought. Women living in mild/moderate drought had higher risk of reporting physical (marginal RD = 0.7, 95% CI 0.2, 1.1; p = 0.003) and sexual violence (marginal RD = 0.7, 95% CI 0.3, 1.2; p = 0.001) compared with those not living in drought. We did not find evidence for an association between drought and emotional violence. In analyses stratified by country, we found 3 settings where drought was protective for at least 1 measure of IPV: Namibia, Tanzania, and Uganda. We found evidence for effect heterogeneity (additive interaction) for the association between drought and younger age and between drought and employment status, with stronger associations between drought and IPV among adolescent girls and unemployed women. This study is limited by its lack of measured hypothesized mediating variables linking drought and IPV, prohibiting a formal mediation analysis. Additional limitations include the potential for bias due to residual confounding and potential non-differential misclassification of the outcome measures leading to an attenuation of observed associations.ConclusionsOur findings indicate that drought was associated with measures of IPV towards women, with larger positive associations among adolescent girls and unemployed women. There was heterogeneity in these associations across countries. Weather shocks may exacerbate vulnerabilities among women in sub-Saharan Africa. Future work should further evaluate potential mechanisms driving these relationships.

In the CEE region, Slovenia recorded the highest proportion of women who experienced physical or sexual violence from their partners. The lowest percentage was recorded in Croatia and Poland in 2018. Slovenia and Poland were also the countries who recorded the highest percentage of women reporting domestic violence to the police.

The dataset contains count data for the number of Family Justice Center clients that reported being foreign born or born in the United States, basic demographic information, including age category, to 10 primary languages spoken, top 10 countries of origin, relationship between client and person committing the intimate partner violence, and the top 5 services provided.

BackgroundDuring COVID-19, concerns were raised about a 'shadow pandemic' of violence against women and girls. However, UN guidance discouraged direct enquiry about intimate partner and family violence (IPFV), instead advocating proxy questions on subjects like relationship difficulties and perceived safety. We investigated the relationship between partner difficulties and family difficulties and common mental disorder (CMDs) during COVID-19 in low-, middle-, and high-income countries.MethodsWe carried out and analysed an online survey, measuring partner difficulties and family difficulties (as proxy items for IPFV), CMDs, and socioeconomic risk factors.ResultsThere were 409 respondents in 19 countries. The prevalence of CMDs was 32.27%. After all adjustments, the risk ratio (RR) for the association of partner difficulties with CMD was 1.30 (95% CI: 1.06, 1.60). The adjusted RR of family difficulties with CMD was 1.18 (95% CI: 0.97, 1.44). Both partner and family difficulties were significantly associated with CMD in women [partner difficulties RR = 1.31 (95% CI: 1.05, 1.65); family difficulties RR = 1.37 (95% CI: 1.09, 1.72)].ConclusionCollecting proxy data on IPFV is feasible and was related to CMDs during COVID-19 in a range of settings. Like partner violence, family violence may also be related to increased CMDs, especially in women. Policy responses for post-pandemic recovery and preparation for future emergencies should consider the health impacts of family violence as well as partner violence.

Study questionsTo describe the prevalence of physical, sexual, and psychological intimate partner violence (IPV) against women in the European Union (EU) and to search for their determinants among demographic, socioeconomic, health-related factors, and partner characteristics.MethodsObservational study. Data from the violence against women survey, the first study conducted in the EU, which simultaneously measured all dimensions of IPV and many characteristics. The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights randomly conducted face-to-face interviews among the 28 countries with 42,002 women aged 18–74 who resided in the survey country and spoke the language. IPV is defined by a positive answer to at least one question about physical, sexual, or psychological violence perpetrated by a current or ex-partner.FindingsAmong the 40,357 women having already been in a relationship, 51.7% (51.2–52.2) reported having been victims of violence in their lifetime. The prevalence of physical, sexual, and psychological IPV was, respectively, 20.0% (19.6–20.4), 8.4% (8.2–8.7), and 48.5% (48.1–49.0). Women, who were younger, employed, had highly qualified work, had at least one immigrant parent, lived in an urban setting, were unmarried, separated, divorced, widowed, childless, cohabited with a partner, and others over the age of 18, had worse self-perceived health, or a history of violence before the age of 15 were more likely to report IPV. It was the same when their partners had a lower level of education, no work, were home staying, earned less than they did, were involved in 10 years of relationship, were frequently drunk, or were violent otherwise.Major implicationThe lifetime prevalence of reported IPV among women in Europe is high and likely underestimated. The results emphasize the importance of a comprehensive definition of IPV and partners' characteristics. They highlight socioeconomic differences and poorer health status for victims of IPV.