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Factors Associated with Poor Mental Health Due to Intimate Partner Violence among Fishermen’s Wives in Bangladesh

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

Department of Social Relations, East West University, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Abstract

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a public health concern in the world, especially in the developing world. Bangladesh, a developing country, has the highest rate of IPV among the South Asian countries. We designed this study to examine survey data from a fishing community in Cox’s Bazar district in Bangladesh, aiming to investigate the factors associated with the poor mental health conditions of women who experienced IPV.
Methods: This study used a cross-sectional design. The target population included fishermen’s wives within the reproductive age group (15-49 years) who experienced IPV. A convenient sampling procedure selected 120 fishermen’s wives from three fishers’ villages of Cox’s Bazar district in 2022. We assessed the respondents’ mental health conditions using the Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20). We analyzed the data using Fisher’s exact test, independent t-test, and binary logistic regression in SPSS version 26.
Results: The respondents reported the prevalence of physical and psychological abuse by their current intimate partners in the last year. The findings indicated that their intimate partners physically abused 69.2% of respondents and psychologically abused 86.7% of them in the past year. The majority of the respondents (80%, n=96) had poor mental health (SRQ≥7). The results from binary logistic regression models demonstrated that the poor mental health of respondents was associated with several factors, including respondents’ age (P=0.045), education (P=0.001), personal income (P=0.002), consumption of betel leaf/smokeless tobacco (P=0.032), not being a member of a non-governmental organization (NGO) (P=0.023), a husband’s gambling habit (P=0.05), a history of psychological abuse (P=0.001), and those who seek assistance during crisis times (P=0.027).
Conclusions: The study findings can assist policymakers and fisheries practitioners in formulating policies and programs to reduce IPV in fisheries communities, thereby ensuring that no one is left behind.

Highlights

Md. Sanaul Haque Mondal: (Google Scholar)

Keywords

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Women’s Health Bulletin
Volume 12, Issue 2 - Serial Number 45
April 2025
Pages 90-100
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