KUMJ | VOL. 21 | NO. 2 | ISSUE 82 | APRIL - JUNE, 2023
Violence Exposed Nepalese Pregnant Women have an Accepting Attitude to Domestic Violence and Suffer from Emotional Distress
Pun KD, Bjørngaard JH, Schei B, Darj E
Abstract: Background
Violence against women and girls is frequent, a third of all women is estimated to
experience violence in their lifetime and mostly by an intimate partner. Women in
Southeast Asia are most affected, and previous studies in Nepal found that one in
five women had experiences of domestic violence, including being afraid of someone
in the family.
Objective
To investigate women’s attitudes to domestic violence and their emotional distress,
in a specific group of pregnant women.
Method
Validated questions from the WHO multi-country study on women’s health and
experiences of domestic violence, and questions from the Hopkins Symptom
Checklist (HSCL-5), measuring depression and anxiety, were used. Women could
answer anonymously by hearing questions in a headset and touching a tablet screen,
for ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
Result
In total 1011 pregnant women participated in the research and 240 women admitted
being exposed to domestic violence (23.7%). These women had a more accepting
attitude to violence compared to non-violence exposed women. They agreed more
that the husband had good reasons to hit his wife, if she does not complete the
household work to his satisfaction, she disobeys or refuses to have sex with him.
Violence exposed women also reported more emotional distress and subsequently
reduced wellbeing. They admitted worrying too much, feelings of hopelessness,
feeling blue, fearful, or nervous.
Conclusion
The present study found that the pregnant Nepali women having an accepting
attitude to violence suffer from emotional distress.
Keyword : Attitudes, Domestic violence, Emotional distress, Pregnant women
