The end of the year is approaching and the figures of gender violence leave us with a bitter taste. More when we just learned that 22.7% of pregnant women suffer violence from their partners, according to a study conducted at the University of Granada.
Almost one in four women suffers some type of violence (emotional, physical or sexual) within their partner, thus it follows from the data collected from a sample of 779 women who gave birth in fifteen public hospitals in Andalusia.
According to experts, these figures are extrapolated to the rest of Spain and to countries with similar socio-cultural environments, but comparing them with two international standardized instruments (the 'Abuse Assessment Screen' and the 'Index of Spouse Abuse'), it is seen that in Spain the prevalence of partner violence in pregnant women is high compared to the nearby countries, in which it ranges between 3.4% and 8.3%.
Other interesting questions that emerge from the investigation are that the fact that couples demand obedience to their whims was considered "normal" and was justified by the character of the partner.
Regarding the types of violence, 21% of women said they suffered emotional violence and 3.6% physical or sexual, violence even suffered daily and with serious consequences such as burns, bruises or broken bones.
Pregnant women who maintained a relationship without commitment or who do not have support in their environment (a family member or friend to go to if necessary) are more likely to experience partner violence during pregnancy. On the contrary, women with jobs were more protected against this type of violence.
As we see, the magnitude of the problem of violence against pregnant women It is not trivial, and its consequences are very serious for both the health of the mother and the fetus. Shouldn't you ask about this aspect in routine checkups to help women who need it?
