title: Intimate partner violence against women in Nepal: an analysis through individual, empowerment, family and societal level factors.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The current study estimated the national prevalence rate of intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) in Nepal. Besides, the individual level, empowerment level, family and societal level factors were assessed to relate with the victims of IPAVW in Nepal.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nationally representative sample of 4210 women of reproductive age (15-49 yr) were included in the study. Household surveys using two stage sampling procedures, face to face interview with pre-tested questionnaires were performed. Emotional, physical and sexual violence were target variables. A violence variable was constructed from these three types of violence. Individual level factors were measured by age, residency, education, religion and husband's education. Empowerment factors included employment status and various decision making elements. Family and societal factors included economic status, neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage index, history of family violence, husband's controlling behavior and other issues. Cross tabulation with chi-square tests and multivariate logistic regression were employed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Prevalence of emotional IPVAW was 17.5%, physical IPAVW 23.4% and sexual IPAVW 14.7%. Overall the prevalence of IPVAW in Nepal was 32.4%. Joint decision making for contraception, husband's non-controlling behavior to wives and friendly feelings were emerged as less likely to be IPVAW perpetration.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings have immense policy importance as a nationally representative study and indicating necessity of more gender equality.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion (CIPSP), School of Health & Medical Sciences, Department of Public Health Science, Örebro University, Örebro, SwedenSchool of Life Sciences, University of Skövde, Skövde, Sweden.. koustuv2010@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Koustuv
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dalal
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety, Ministry of Education, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Shumei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, University of Skövde, Skövde, Sweden.WHO CC Community Safety Promotion, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Leif
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Svanström
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D004651:Employment / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D016015:Logistic Models; D009390:Nepal / Q000453:epidemiology; D011203:Poverty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011209:Power, Psychological; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016387:Women's Health; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Educational Status; Empowerment; Nepal; Risk Factor; Spouse Abuse; Women’s Health