Overview

A module included in the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS), a large-scale nationally representative survey that covers many aspects of family and health for both men and women, in addition to domestic violence. The module has been used by 54 countries, which enables reviews of trends and comparisons. The most recent DHS, Phase 8, measures physical and sexual violence.

Scoring and Interpretation

Responses are used to create exposure variables: exposure to different categories of violence (defined as exposure to physical violence only, sexual violence only, or physical and sexual violence).

Citation

Demographic and Health Surveys (2019). Demographic and Health Surveys: Domestic Violence Module.

Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) Toolkit. 2014. MEASURE DHS Phase III project. MEASURE DHS/ICF International for United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Context and Applications to Child Nutrition

Bangladesh
Rahman, Mosiur, Krishna C. Poudel, Junko Yasuoka, Keiko Otsuka, Kayoko Yoshikawa, and Masamine Jimba. 2012. "Maternal Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence and the Risk of Undernutrition Among Children Younger Than 5 Years in Bangladesh." American Journal of Public Health 102(7): 1336-1345.

Egypt, Honduras, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda
Rico, Emily, Bridget Fenn, Tanya Abramsky, and Charlotte Watts. 2011. "Associations Between Maternal Experiences of Intimate Partner Violence and Child Mortality: Findings from Demographic and Health Surveys in Egypt, Honduras, Kenya, Malawi and Rwanda." Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health 6(4): 360-367.

Ethiopia
Tsedal, Desta Melaku, Mezgebu Yitayal, Zegeye Abebe, and Adino Tesfahun Tsegaye. 2020. "Effect of Intimate Partner Violence of Women on Minimum Acceptable Diet of Children Aged 6–23 Months in Ethiopia: Evidence From 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey." BMC Nutrition 6(1): 1-11.

Liberia
Sobkoviak, Rudina M., Kathryn M. Yount, and Nafisa Halim. 2012. "Domestic Violence and Child Nutrition in Liberia." Social Science & Medicine 74(2): 103-111.

Rwanda
Betancourt, Theresa S., Sarah KG Jensen, Dale A. Barnhart, Robert T. Brennan, Shauna M. Murray, Aisha K. Yousafzai, Jordan Farrar et al. 2020. "Promoting Parent-Child Relationships and Preventing Violence Via Home-Visiting: A Pre-Post Cluster Randomised Trial Among Rwandan Families Linked to Social Protection Programmes." BMC Public Health 20(1): 1-11.

Tanzania
Mukong, Alfred Kechia, and Justine Burns. "Parental Bargaining and Rural–Urban Child Health Differential in Tanzania." 2021. Development Southern Africa 38(6): 938-953.

Holm‐Larsen, Christina Elise, Frederikke Kjerulff Madsen, Jane Januarius Rogathi, Rachel Manongi, Declare Mushi, Dan Wolf Meyrowitsch, Tine Gammeltoft, G. N. Sigalla, and V. Rasch. 2019. "Postpartum Depression and Child Growth in Tanzania: A Cohort Study." BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology 126, no. 5: 590-598.

Neamah, Hind H., Christopher Sudfeld, Dana Charles McCoy, Günther Fink, Wafaie W. Fawzi, Honorati Masanja, Goodarz Danaei, Alfa Muhihi, Sylvia Kaaya, and Mary C. Smith Fawzi. 2018. "Intimate Partner Violence, Depression, and Child Growth and Development." Pediatrics 142(1).

29 countries
Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Gabon, Ghana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Nigeria, Peru, Republic of Moldova, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Timor-Leste, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Chai, Jeanne, Günther Fink, Sylvia Kaaya, Goodarz Danaei, Wafaie Fawzi, Majid Ezzati, Jeffrey Lienert, and Mary C. Smith Fawzi. 2016. "Association Between Intimate Partner Violence and Poor Child Growth: Results from 42 Demographic and Health Surveys." Bulletin of the World Health Organization 94(5): 331.

Adaptations

N/A

Formative Research

Expert inputs, Quantitative data set