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Spousal Violence against Women and Help Seeking Behavior of Abused Women in Dhaka Slum. Kausar Parvin, icddr,b Ruchira Tabassum Naved, icddr,b. Background. Spousal violence against women (VAW) in Bangladesh: - National rate 60% (BDHS, 2009) - Rate in urban slum 66% (UHS, 2008)
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Spousal Violence against Women and Help Seeking Behavior of Abused Women in Dhaka Slum Kausar Parvin, icddr,b Ruchira Tabassum Naved, icddr,b
Background • Spousal violence against women (VAW) in Bangladesh: - National rate 60% (BDHS, 2009) - Rate in urban slum 66% (UHS, 2008) • 44% ever disclosed their experience - 7% of them sought help - 2% from formal sources (Naved et al., 2006) • 39% of male and 48% of female slum dwellers justified VAW(UHS, 2008)
Objectives To indentify: • Attitudes of women and men regarding gender and VAW • Prevalence of different forms of VAW in the slums covered by SAFE • Help seeking behavior of abused women
Women and men agreeing or strongly agreeing to statements related to gender and VAW, %
Attitudes regarding gender and VAW • Opinion regarding gender and VAW revealed highly gender-inequitable attitudes across gender • Women held more gender equitable attitudes than men • Both women and men had conventional notions of masculinities • 100% women and men agreed with at least one gender inequitable statement presented to them
Examples of items used in measuring VAW • Controlling behavior - restricting access to health care • Emotional Violence - humiliating; intimidating; insulting etc • Economic violence - prohibiting from work • Physical violence - slapping, pushing/ shoving , kicking/dragging/beating etc • Sexual Violence - physically forced sex , sex out of fear etc
Different forms of VAW during the last 12 months reported by women and men, %
Disclosure of violence and help seeking behavior • 21% of the physically abused women disclosed their experience • 19% sought help • 6% of sexually abused women sought help • Main reason for help seeking was inability to endure more • Main reason for not seeking help was high acceptance of VAW
Reasons for not seeking help for physical violence from institutions
Reasons for not seeking help for sexual violence from institutions
Recommendations • Change violence condoning attitudes of women and men • Work with community for creating space for abused women to share their problems • Ensure informal and institutional support • Make available services sensitive to the needs of abused women