Intimate partner violence and contraception in Pakistan: Results from Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2012-13

This study examined the association between reports of IPV and the use of contraceptives among a sample of 658 women from the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2012-13. Sample characteristics, bivariate associations, and multivariate analyses were conducted. Three types of IPV were examined as predictors of different types of contraceptive use/intention. Results from multinomial logistic regressions indicated that if lifetime prevalence of physical violence, past-year physical violence, and emotional violence increased by one unit each, the relative risk for using modern methods of contraception increased significantly by a factor of 3.15, 2.75 and 3.44 respectively. If lifetime prevalence of physical violence and past-year physical violence increased by one unit each, the relative risk for using traditional methods of contraception increased significantly by a factor of 4.02 and 2.34. If lifetime prevalence of physical violence and emotional violence increased by one unit each, the relative risk for intending to use contraceptives increased significantly by a factor of 2.42 and 1.97 respectively. Policy and practice implications are discussed.