B4233 - Investigate maternal and paternal risk factors for violence during pregnancy and its lasting impact for everyone - 11/01/2023
Intimate partner violence is a recognized human rights, development, and public health issue, with one in three women globally estimated to have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by their partner during their lifetime. One of the times in life when women are believed to be spared from violence is pregnancy, a period when the well-being of the women and their unborn children is often prioritized. Yet, the reality is different. Worldwide, the prevalence of physical intimate partner violence during pregnancy ranges from 1 to 28 percent, with one in four women reporting that the violence was explicitly directed at their pregnant abdomen. The overarching aim of this proposal is to understand the risk and protective factors to mitigate the intergenerational transmission of violence during pregnancy and its short and long-term effects of violence during pregnancy. This will be achieved by firstly investigating the short and long-term social and health effects of violence during pregnancy on women and on their male and female children, secondly establishing that violence during pregnancy is a marker for severe violence during the lifetime and thirdly, exploring the maternal and paternal risk and protective factors for the intergenerational transmission of violence during pregnancy. Information on short and long-term health consequences will be based on both biomarkers and self-reported health assessments of mothers, daughters and sons.