Violence and Pregnancy: Are Pregnant Women at Greater Risk of Abuse?

This paper examines whether pregnant women are at special risk of being victimized by their husbands and partners according to the data of the Second National Family Violence Survey. Telephone interviews were conducted with individuals in 6002 nationally representative households. Violence and abuse were measured using the Conflict Tactics Scale. Results showed that the rates of minor severe and overall violence were higher in the households where the wife or female partner was pregnant at the time of the interview. Pregnant womens risk of minor violence was 28.3% while the risk of abusive violence was 60.6%. Findings also showed that the large differences in rates of violence experienced by pregnant women compared to nonpregnant women are greatly reduced when age was controlled age of female respondents and age of male respondents. It indicates that women under 25 years of age are both more likely to be pregnant and to be hit and abused by husbands and partners. From the study intervention and prevention strategies should be developed to protect pregnant women and their unborn children.