Type and severity of intimate partner violence and formal help-seeking among women in the Philippines

ABSTRACT

Background: In the Philippines, 25% of ever-married women reported experiencing some form of violence fromtheir partner, but only 10% of them actually sought medical or legal help (NDHS, 2013). The objective of thisstudy was to describe the type and severity of intimate partner violence experienced, and its association withformal help-seeking, among women aged 15-49 years in the Philippines.Methods: The cross-sectional data used for this study came from the National Demographic and Health Surveyof women ages 15-49 years old conducted in 2013. To estimate the association of interest, confounders wereidentified using the change-in-estimate criterion and were controlled by multiple logistic regression modelling.Results: Among women aged 15-49 years who experienced intimate partner violence, those who experiencedall types of abuse had the highest proportion of formal help-seeking (7.3%), while women who experienced onlysexual abuse had the lowest (0 out of 67). Controlling for the effect of other variables, women who experiencedsevere physical abuse were more likely to seek medical or legal assistance compared to those who experiencedmoderate physical abuse (OR=4.77; 95% Confidence Interval 1.96 - 11.62).Conclusion: Formal help-seeking rates were low among victims of intimate partner violence in the Philippines.Severity of abuse experienced is likely an important factor in seeking medical and legal help. These systemsshould thus be capable of handling severe cases of abuse in order to address the needs of women who seekhelp. Efforts should be made to increase formal help-seeking among all victims of domestic violence.