Spousal violence in Bangladesh: a call for a public-health response

Abstract

Spousal violence against women is a serious public-health issue. Although there is a growing body of literature on this subject, there are still many unanswered questions regarding the prevalence of this violence, the risk factors, the consequences, and how to address the issue. The purpose of this literature review is to organize and synthesize the empirical evidence on spousal violence against women in Bangladesh and to provide direction for both researchers and practitioners for future work in this area. The review suggests that spousal violence against women is high in Bangladesh. The list of correlates is long and inconclusive. Although there is evidence on adverse consequences of this violence on health of women and their children, more research is needed to explore the multifaceted consequences of violence for women, children, families, and communities. Action research is needed to develop and test preventive and curative interventions.

Fig. 1

Suicide as a proportion of deaths of women aged 15-44 years, 1976–2003

Fig. 2

Percentage of deaths of women aged 15-49 years attributable to suicide and homicide in Matlab, 1976–1986 and 1983–2002

Fig. 3

Percentage of deaths from intentional injuries (see text) and total numbers of deaths in women aged 15-44 years by marital status, Abhoynagar, 1984–1991 and 1994–2003

Fig. 4

Percentage of deaths attributable to suicide by age-group in Matlab 1976–1986 and 1983–2002

Fig. 5

Percentage of deaths attributable to suicide by age-group in Abhoynagar, 1984–1991 and 1994–2003

Fig. 6

Percentage of women aged 15-49 years experiencing physical or sexual violence by husbands in the last year by age-group and by urban or rural areas in Bangladesh