Intimate Person Violence and Child Deprivation in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Nearly one in three women lives in a relationship where she is exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV), with the wife as the victim and the husband as the perpetrator. Beyond the imperative to prevent violence against women for their own well-being, IPV also has substantial effects on children. This study examines the associations between mothers’ experiences of IPV and three indicators reflecting fundamental aspects of child deprivation—mortality, undernutrition, and healthcare access—using survey data from nearly 400,000 mothers in 77 low- and middle-income countries and Indian states. To our knowledge, this study is the most geographically comprehensive to date, and it incorporates neighbourhood effects, employing a multilevel approach to account for both between- and within-country variations in child deprivation. Our findings corroborate previous research linking women’s empowerment to children’s well-being, malnutrition, and mortality. We found that the relationship between domestic violence against mothers and child deprivation varies according to the household’s economic situation. Additionally, we demonstrate that the association between mothers' exposure to domestic violence and child deprivation is conditioned by the prevalence of IPV among neighbouring women. These results indicate that IPV is not only an interpersonal issue but also a social phenomenon significantly associated with child deprivation.