Does intimate partner violence affect contraceptive use among married women in Cambodia?

Sammanfattning: Cambodia continues to experience a high prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) across the country. This may be attributed to the deeply embedded patriarchal customs that emphasize the subservience of women and authority of men. Previous literature has found that IPV may lead to negative health implications among victimized women, such as impaired well-being, unintended pregnancies, and HIV/AIDS. This paper examines the impact of IPV experience –emotional, physical, and sexual– in the past 12 months on the current use contraception among married women in Cambodia. While more than half of married women of reproductive age in Cambodia currently use contraceptives, this has not always been the case. Using cross-sectional data for 2000 and 2014 from the Cambodian Demographic and Health Surveys (CDHS), the relationship between IPV and contraceptive use will be analyzed and compared. The results show that IPV experience within the past year has a negative impact on contraceptive use in 2000 and no impact in 2014. A negative association is also found between spouse’s controlling behaviors and contraceptive use in 2000. The contraceptive revolution experienced by Cambodia within this time frame is highlighted as an explanation of why several determinants affect contraceptive use in 2000 and not in 2014.