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. 2016 May;19(7):1305-11.
doi: 10.1017/S1368980015002694. Epub 2015 Sep 28.

The association between intimate partner domestic violence and the food security status of poor families in Brazil

Rita de Cássia Ribeiro-Silva  1 , Rosemeire Leovigildo Fiaccone  2 , Maurício Lima Barreto  3 , Mônica Leila Portela Santana  1 , Sandra Maria Chaves dos Santos  1 , Maria Ester Pereira da Conceição-Machado  1 , Marie Agnès Aliaga  3
Affiliations

The association between intimate partner domestic violence and the food security status of poor families in Brazil

Rita de Cássia Ribeiro-Silva et al. Public Health Nutr. 2016 May.

Abstract

Objective: To assess the association between physical intimate partner violence and household food security within households with schoolchildren.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Salvador, Bahia, north-eastern Brazil.

Subjects: The study was conducted in 1019 households with students. Violence between couples was evaluated using the Portuguese version of the revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2), previously adapted and validated for use in Brazil. The Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale (BFIS) was used to identify food insecurity. We also obtained socio-economic information for each participant. We used multivariate Poisson regression to assess the associations of interest.

Results: According to the results of the BFIS, 62·5% of the households were found to experience food insecurity, including 19·5% moderate food insecurity and 6·5% severe food insecurity. The prevalence of minor physical violence was 9·6% (95% CI 7·8, 11·4%) and of severe physical violence was 4·7% (95% CI 3·4, 6·0%) among the couples. In the final multivariate model, it was found that couples reporting minor (prevalence ratio=1·23; 95% CI 1·12, 1·35) and severe (prevalence ratio=1·16; 95% CI 1·00, 1·34) physical violence were more likely to be experiencing household food insecurity, compared with those not reporting physical violence.

Conclusions: Physical intimate partner violence was associated with food insecurity of households. The present study brings new data to the subject of the role of violence in the context of food insecurity.

Keywords: Food insecurity; Intimate partner violence; Social inequalities.

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