Associations between recent intimate partner violence and receipt and quality of perinatal health services in Uttar Pradesh

Background India suffers some of the highest maternal and neonatal mortality rates in the world. Intimate partner violence (IPV) can be a barrier to utilization of perinatal care, and has been associated with poor maternal and neonatal health outcomes. However, studies that assess the relationship between IPV and perinatal health care often focus solely on receipt of services, and not the quality of the services received. Methods and findings Data were collected in 2016–2017 from a representative sample of women (15-49yrs) in Uttar Pradesh, India who had given birth within the previous 12 months (N = 5020), including use of perinatal health services and past 12 months experiences of physical and sexual IPV. Multivariate logistic regression models assessed whether physical or sexual IPV were associated with perinatal health service utilization and quality. Reports of IPV were not associated with odds of receiving antenatal care or a health worker home visit during the third trimester, but physical IPV was associated with fewer diagnostic tests during antenatal visits (beta = -0.30), and fewer health topics covered during home visits (beta = -0.44). Recent physical and recent sexual IPV were both associated with decreased odds of institutional delivery (physical IPV AOR 0.65; sexual IPV AOR 0.61), and recent sexual IPV was associated with leaving a delivery facility earlier than recommended (AOR = 1.87). Neither form of IPV was associated with receipt of a postnatal home visit, but recent physical IPV was associated with fewer health topics discussed during such visits (beta = -0.26). Conclusions In this study, reduced quantity and quality of perinatal health care were associated with recent IPV experiences. In cases where IPV was not related to care receipt, IPV remained associated with diminished care quality. Additional study to understand the mechanisms underlying associations between IPV and care qualities is required to inform health services

Violence against women in India: three essays on its offline and online forms

Despite significant increase in research efforts on violence against women (VAW) in the past two decades, key gaps remain, particularly for emerging issues such as climate and VAW, and online VAW. This dissertation attempts to fill these gaps in literature by examining two separate and lesser studied areas of inquiry related to VAW in India- a) the relationship between droughts, an extreme weather event, and married women’s experience of intimate partner violence (IPV) (Study 1), and b) online misogyny or online hate speech against women- its temporal prevalence on Twitter before and during COVID-19 (Study 2), and its relationship with offline normative attitudes and behavior (Study 3). Integrating remote sensing data on drought status with information on women’s experience of IPV from two rounds of a nationally representative survey (National Family Health Survey or NFHS; 2015-16 and 2019-2021; N=122,696 women), Study 1 found that droughts increase the risk of married women experiencing physical and emotional IPV in India. Study 2 used supervised machine learning methods to predict the status of misogyny across a large corpus of over 30 million tweets posted from India between 2018 and 2021. Interrupted Time Series Analysis showed that the absolute volume as well as proportion of these misogynistic tweets posted from India increased significantly after the onset of COVID-19, relative to trends prior to the pandemic. Study 3 is an ecological study that merged information on offline normative attitudes and behaviors from NFHS (2019-2021) with data on online misogyny prevalence at a sub-regional level. Results showed that gender-related offline normative behavior was significantly associated with online misogyny on Twitter. Findings support the growing body of evidence regarding the relationship between climate and VAW, highlighting the need for gender responsive strategies for disaster management and preparedness. With regards to online forms of VAW, results emphasize that online misogynistic rhetoric is prevalent and increasing on Twitter; it often occurs in tandem with offline contexts where control of and violence against women is normative. Online violence prevention efforts need to be part of the overall agenda of VAW, given the strong links between offline norms and online misogyny

Baseline HH study UP TSU

The baseline study for Uttar Pradesh(UP) Technical Support Unit(TSU) was conducted in 2014, in 49 districts of UP, out of which 25 districts were the TSU program areas and 24 districts formed the comparison area. The baseline study aimed to assess the maternal and child health outcomes at the community level

Longitudinal study for family planning services in UP

In order to understand women’s preferences of FP methods, changes in the preferences as well as the reasons for the same, a longitudinal study was conducted for currently married women of reproductive age. Round 1 of the longitudinal study was conducted in 2014. A total of 2222 women were interviewed in the first round of the survey. Two years later, the same women were interviewed, asking them questions on family planning methods and their usage patterns. A total of 1801 women were interviewed in the second round – with a sample coverage of 81 percent. Key areas of inquiry included the effect of TSU on improving contraceptive prevalence rate and reducing unmet need for contraceptives, changes in the method mix, rate of drop outs and new users for family planning methods, counselling and advice received by women on Family Planning among others

FLW data-UP TSU

The baseline study for Uttar Pradesh(UP) Technical Support Unit(TSU) was conducted in 2014, in 49 districts of UP, out of which 25 districts were the TSU program areas and 24 districts formed the comparison area. The midline study was conducted in the same districts in 2016. ASHAs, ANMs and AWWs were interviewed to assess their knowledge and skills

Replication Data for: Family Planning counselling and its effects on initiation and continuation of modern contraceptives among women in rural UP: a longitudinal study

In order to understand women’s preferences of FP methods, changes in the preferences as well as the reasons for the same, a longitudinal study was conducted for currently married women of reproductive age. Round 1 of the longitudinal study was conducted in 2014. A total of 2222 women were interviewed in the first round of the survey. Two years later, the same women were interviewed, asking them questions on family planning methods and their usage patterns. A total of 1801 women were interviewed in the second round – with a sample coverage of 81 percent

Midline HH survey data for UPTSU

Midline study for UPTSU was conducted between June-September 2017