Sexual violence among pregnant women in India.
OBJECTIVE
To discover the extent of sexual violence during pregnancy, its correlation to various variables and effects, and to consider future possibilities for creating awareness in health providers, health seekers and communities for prevention.


METHODS
Two thousand pregnant women were interviewed using a semi-structured, pre-designed, pre-tested questionnaire with some open-ended questions in the local language.


RESULTS
Of 2000 women, 1959 (97.95%) reported that they had had sex with their partners during the current pregnancy. Of the 2000, 615 (30.7%) women had not wished to have sex during the pregnancy, but had been forced to do so.


CONCLUSIONS
Women suffer with recurrent marital rape during pregnancy with considerable after effects. This sexual violence takes place irrespective of education or socioeconomic status.
Chhabra
Shakunatala
S
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Sevagram, Wardha, Maharashtra, India. chhabra_s@rediffmail.com
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012742:Sex Offenses / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*