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.