Intimate Partner Violence and Contraceptive Method Choice: An Evidence from Malawi and Zambia

Oluwaseyi Somefun, University of the Witwatersrand

Intimate partner violence (IPV), has been found to be associated with range of negative health outcomes (unintended pregnancies, still birth) for women and their children. A number of studies have examined factors that influence contraceptive use but there are no studies that examine how intimate partner violence influences contraceptive method choice. This paper seeks to identify the association between intimate partner violence and contraceptive method choice among women in Malawi and Zambia. Data came from a nationally representative (Demographic and Health Surveys) sample of 23,020 women (aged 15-49) in Malawi and 7,146 women in Zambia The multinomial regression method has been applied to examine the influence of intimate partner violence on contraceptive method choice (no method, reversible, permanent and traditional methods). There was no significant association between intimate partner violence and contraceptive method choice in the two countries but some socio-economic variables were strongly linked to method choice.