AUTHOR=Rahman Mizanur , Jamil Kanta , Nahar Quamrun , Chakraborty Nitai , Haider M. Moinuddin , Khan Shusmita 

TITLE=Factors that provide protection against intimate partner physical violence among married adolescents in Bangladesh

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1125056

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2023.1125056

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=Background: Intimate partner physical violence, perpetrated by husbands and within adolescence marriage are pervasive in Bangladesh. Younger women are more vulnerable to IPPV.
Objective: We examined factors associated with IPPV experienced by married adolescents ages 15–19 and tested four hypotheses: (1) adolescent girls married to relatively older husbands, (2) adolescents living in extended families with parents or parents-in-law, (3) adolescents who are minimally controlled by husbands, and (4) adolescents who have a child after marriage are protective of IPPV. 
Methods: We analyzed IPPV data from 1,846 married girls ages 15–19 obtained from a national adolescent survey conducted in 2019–20. IPPV is defined as the respondent having physical violence perpetrated by her husband at least once in the last 12 months. We implemented logistic regression models to test our hypotheses.
Results: Sixteen percent of married adolescent girls experienced IPPV. Girls living with parents-in-law or parents had adjusted odds ratio (AOR) of 0.56 (p<0.001) of IPPV compared to those girls who lived with husband alone. Girls with husbands ages 21–25 years and 26 years or older had AORs of 0.45 (p<0.001) and 0.33 (p<0.001) of IPPV compared to those girls with their husband ages 20 and younger. Married adolescent girls who did not own a mobile phone (an indicator of spousal power dynamics) had an AOR of 1.39 (p<0.05) compared to those girls who had a phone. IPPV risk increases with an increased duration of marriage for those with no living children (p<0.001) but not for those with at least one living child; the risk was higher among those who had a child within the first year of marriage than those who had not yet had a child. At a duration of four years and longer, IPPV risk was higher among those with no living children than those with children.
Discussion: Findings related to those living with parents-in-law or parents, girls married to relatively older boys/men, having the ability to communicate with outside world, and having a child are protective of IPPV in Bangladesh are new, to our knowledge.