Notwithstanding any sociocultural differences between the study's 24,000 respondents to the contrary, the WHO researchers found that, across the board, there were consistent similarities among the effects of domestic violence on the women who participated in the study. For instance, the press release from WHO includes an observation from a member of the core research team for the study, Dr. Charlotte Watt of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who advised, "The degree to which the health consequences of partner violence in the WHO study are consistent across sites, both within and between countries, is striking. Partner violence appears to have a similar impact on women's health and well-being regardless of where she lives, the prevalence of violence in her setting, or her cultural or economic background" (quoted in Landmark study on domestic violence, 2006, para. 3).
The WHO study's findings also confirmed much of the research to date concerning the adverse effects of domestic violence on female sexual and reproductive health and exacerbation of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. The WHO study found that women who lived in sexually or physically abusive relationships were less likely to have a partner who agreed to use a condom, more likely to have undergone at least one induced abortion, and they were more likely to have male partners who maintained multiple sexual partners compared to their non-abused counterparts who did not report any domestic violence (Landmark study on domestic violence, 2006).
In contrast to physical violence where there were weapons and/or fear of force used, the WHO study defined sexual violence as being any of the following three behaviours: (a) being physically forced to have a sexual intercourse against their will; (b) having sexual intercourse because they were afraid of what their partner might do; (c) being forced to do something sexual they found degrading or humiliating (Landmark study on domestic violence, 2006, para. 3). This type of domestic violence was particularly disturbing as it applied to pregnant women. For instance, the WHO study found that in a majority of the countries studied, between 4% and 12% of women...
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now