Factors Associated with Gender-based Violence among Pregnant Women

Gender-based violence against women and gravid women, in particular, is a local and global health concern. One is also seen in women having antenatal care at the University of Benin Teaching hospital, Nigeria. Gender-based violence (GBV) is one suffered by an individual as a result of their gender, identity, or expression of socially defined norms of being male or female. It includes sexual, physical, psychological, verbal, and emotional abuse, threats, and educational or economic deprivation and can be a public or private occurrence (UN, 1993). It can be experienced by all genders. Many pregnant women come to receive care at the Teaching Hospital in Benin, Nigeria, and are found to have undergone various types of abuse perpetrated by an intimate partner and it is steadily on the increase. Many speak to health workers in confidence but are not willing to involve law enforcement agencies. Others will not accept experiencing gender-based violence despite visible signs for fear of the violence increasing afterward or the social stigma of experiencing GBV.