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Intimate partner sexual violence against women in Sylhet, Bangladesh: some risk factors

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2020

Md. Shahidul Islam Open the ORCID record for Md. Shahidul Islam [Opens in a new window]
Md. Shahidul Islam*
Affiliation:
Research and Development (R&D) Cell, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), Bangladesh and Bangladesh Institute of Social Research (BISR) Trust, Dhaka, Bangladesh
*
Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Intimate partner sexual violence (IPSV) is considered to be a multifarious critical problem in Bangladesh. This study explored the IPSV correlates in Bangladesh with a specific focus on a rural setting. Cross-sectional survey data were collected from 250 randomly selected married women aged 15–49 years in Kandigoan Union Parishad, Sylhet Sadar Upazila, Bangladesh in 2017. Chi-squared tests and multiple logistic regression techniques were applied to measure the IPSV correlates. Around 25% of respondents reported experience of IPSV over the previous 12 months. The logistic regression results showed that women who had committed to pay dowry upon marriage, suspected their husbands of having extramarital affairs and reported having poor spousal communication were 2.657 times (OR = 2.257; 95% CI = 0.527–9.662), 4.914 times (OR = 4.914; 95% CI = 1.354–17.829) and 3.536 times (OR = 3.536; 95% CI = 0.910-13.745) more likely, respectively to report experiencing IPSV by their husbands compared with their counterparts. The findings are expected to contribute to formulating an appropriate policy to combat IPSV against married women at the household level in rural areas of Bangladesh.

Keywords

Sexual violenceIntimate partnerBangladesh
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 54 , Issue 1 , January 2022 , pp. 54 - 76
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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