Prevalence and Correlates of Intimate Partner Sexual Violence Among Pregnant Women in Lamwo District - Northern Uganda

Indicator		Percent / Frequency N=260
		% (n)
	Female	100 (260)
Age
	18-24	59.2 (154)
	25-31	31.9 (83)
	32-38	8.8 (23)
Marital status
	Married	23.1 (60)
	Cohabiting	76.9 (200)
	Duration in marital
	Less than five years	65.8 (171)
	More than five years	34.2 (89)
Religious denomination
	Catholic	59.2 (154)
	Christian (Pentecostal) 29.2 (76)
	Muslim	2.3 (6)
	Born-again	9.2 (24)
Formally educated
	Yes	86.5 (225)
	No	13.5 (35)
Education Level
	Primary	65.8 (148)
	Secondary	28.9 (65)
	Tertiary	5.3 (12)
Currently employed
	Yes	9.2 (24)
	No	90.8 (236)

Table 2

Forms of IPSV experienced and their magnitude

Indicator		Percent / Frequency % (n)
Spouse coercion since conception of current pregnancy
	Yes	9.2(24)
	No	90.8(236)
Spouse denial to use protective measures from STIs, during intercourse
	Yes	18.5(48)
	No	81.5(212)
Spouse forcefully had sexual intercourse
	Yes	13.8(36)
	No	86.2(224)
Frequency of forceful sex during current pregnancy
	Once	50.0 (18)
	Twice	16.7(6)
	More than thrice	33.3(12)

Table 3

Disaggregation of forms of IPSV during pregnancy

Indicator		IPSV status
		Experienced	Not experienced
		N=63	N=197
		% (n)	% (n)
Spouse coercion since conception of current pregnancy
	Yes	22(34.9%)	2(1.0%)
	No	41(65.1%)	195(99.0%)
Spouse denial to use protective measures from STIs, during intercourse
	Yes	46(73.0%)	2(1.0%)
	No	17(27.0%)	195(99.0%)
Spouse forcefully had sexual intercourse pregnant wife
	Yes	33(52.4%)	3(1.5%)
	No	30(47.6%)	194(98.5%)
Frequency of forceful sex during current pregnancy
	Once	17(51.5%)	1(33.3%)
	Twice	5(15.2%)	1(33.3%)
	More than thrice	11(33.3%)	1(33.3%)

Table 4

Multivariate analysis of spouse sexual violence during pregnancy

Indicator Gravidity	cPR (95% CI)	P value	Sig	aPR (95% CI)	P value	Sig
One	5.162 (2.044 - 13.040)	.001	*	4.844 (1.896 - 12.378)	.001	*
Two	4.433 (1.798 - 10.934)	.001	*	4.696(1.869 - 11.803)	.001	*
Three	5.211 (1.989 - 13.657	.001	*	5.307 (1.965 -14.335)	.001	*
More than three	1.000			1.000
Ever experienced any Spouse sexual violence during pregnancy
Yes	4.977 (3.260 - 7.597)	.000	*	4.889 (3.177 - 7.523)	.000	*
No	1.000			1.000
Level of communication with spouse
High	.517(.278 - .962)	.037		.764 (.351 - 1.661)	.497
Moderate	.633 (.390 - 1.027)	.064		.758 (.456 - 1.260)	.285
Low	1.000			1.000
Level of education
Primary	.352 (.133 - .933)	.036		.324 (.120 - .874)	.026	*
Secondary	.871 (.487 - 1.557)	.642		.835 (.466 - 1.498)	.546
Post-secondary	1.000			1.000
Spouse has a habit of engaging in fights
Yes	3.176 (2.048 -4.926)	.000	*	4.043 (2.146 - 7.615)	.000	*
No	1.000			1.000
Substance used if non-illicit
Alcohol	.308 (.189 - .502)	.000	*	.308 (.189 - 0502)	.000	*
Tobacco	.250 (.041 - 1.541)	.135		.250 (.041 - 1.541)	.135
Both (Alcohol and Tobacco)	1.000			1.000
Spouse allows woman to go somewhere at own accord, without consequences
Yes	.316 (.143 - .698)	.004	*	.394 (.181 - .856)	.019	*
No	1.000			1.000
Spouse allows woman to talk with neighbours or visit friends
Yes	14.038 (1.996-98.737)	.008	*	12.554 (1.767 - 89.212)	.011	*
No	1.000			1.000
Spouse ever physically abused wife
Yes	1.703 (1.109 - 2.616)	.015		1.838 (1.197 - 2.824)	.005	*
No	1.000			1.000
Spousal preference for gender of children
Yes	2.096 (1.376 - 3.193)	.001	*	1.684 (1.031 - 2.751)	.037	*
No	1.000			1.000

Note.

* p<.05; represents significant indicators for spouse sexual violence during pregnancy.

Section A. Socio demographic characteristics of the pregnant woman

Question number Question		Choices
1	Age in full years
2	What is your current marital status?	Married Cohabiting Other
3	For how long have you been in a marital relationship?	Less than five years More than five years
4	To what religious denomination do you belong?	Catholic Christian (Pentecostal) Muslim Other
5	Are you formally educated?	Yes No
6	If yes, to what level?	Primary Secondary Post-secondary
7	Are you currently employed?	Yes No

Section B. Intimate partner sexual violence

Question number Question		Choices
8	Since conception of the current pregnancy, has you spouse/intimate partner coerced you or made unwanted sexual advances to you?	Yes No
9	Since conception of your current pregnancy, has your husband denied you chance to use measures that can protect you from sexually transmitted infections, during intercourse?	Yes No
10	Since conception of the current pregnancy, has your husband/spouse/intimate partner ever forcefully had sexual intercourse with you?	Yes No
11	If yes above, how many times has that happened during this pregnancy?	Once Twice Thrice More than thrice

Section C. Intrapersonal characteristics

Question number Question		Choices
12	Do you have any form of disabilities?	Yes No
13	If yes, what form of disability do you have?	Physical disability Sensory disability
14	In what trimester are you currently?	Second trimester Third trimester
15	Since conception, have you used any substances of abuse?	Yes No
16	If yes, which ones have you used so far	Illicit substances Non-illicit Both
17	If illicit, which ones have you used?	Marijuana Khat Other
	If non illicit, which ones have you used?	Alcohol Tobacco Other
17	How many pregnancies have you carried so far?	One Two Three More than three
18	Have you ever experienced any intimate partner sexual violence in any of those pregnancies?	No Yes
19	Which form of intimate partner sexual violence was it?	Emotional Physical Sexual
20	How many living children do you currently have?	One Two Three More than three
21	Did you plan to have the current pregnancy?	Yes No
22	Do you usually communication with your spouse?	Yes No
23	If yes, how do you rate your level of communication with your spouse?	High Moderate Low

Section D. Spousal Characteristics

Question number Question		Choices
24	In what age range is your husband/spouse/intimate partner	Between 18 and 28 years Between 29 and 39 years Between 39 and 49 years More than 49 years
25	To what religious denomination does your husband/spouse/intimate partner belong?	Catholic Christian (Pentecostal) Muslim Other
26	Is your husband/spouse/intimate partner formally educated?	Yes No
27	If yes, to what level?	Primary Secondary Post-secondary
28	Is your husband/spouse/intimate partner currently employed?	Yes No
29	Does your husband/spouse/intimate partner have a habit of engaging in fights	Yes No
30	Does he have any form of disabilities?	Yes No
31	If yes, what form of disability does he have?	Physical disability Sensory disability
32	Does your husband/spouse/intimate partner use any substances of abuse?	Yes No
33	If yes, which ones does he use	Illicit substances Non-illicit Both
34	If illicit, which ones does he use?	Marijuana Khat Other
35	If non illicit, which ones have you used?	Alcohol Tobacco Other
36	Since conception, have you ever stayed with spouse’s parents?	Yes No
37	Has your husband/spouse/intimate partner officially brought dowry your parents?	Yes No
38	Does your husband/spouse/intimate partner participate in gambling like sports betting or playing cards?	Yes No
39	Does your spouse allow you to make your own decisions?	Yes No
40	Does your spouse allow you to go somewhere, at your own accord, without consequences?	Yes No
41	Does your spouse allow you to go to talk with your neighbors or visit friends?	Yes No
42	Has your husband/spouse/intimate partner ever physically abused you?	Yes No
43	Does your husband have a preference for a particular gender of children?	Yes No
44	If yes, which gender does he currently prefer?	Female Male

Section E. societal characteristics

Question number Question		Choices
45	In this society, intimate partner sexual violence is considered to be normal	Strongly disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly Agree
46	In our society, a man has a right to have sex with his wife any time they desire, irrespective of hesitance from the wife	Strongly disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly Agree
47	Having sex during pregnancy is highly regarded in this society?	Strongly disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly Agree
48	Marital rape is not considered a grave crime traditionally, even during pregnancy?	Strongly disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly Agree
49	A woman should be ready to have sex at any time, according to culture?	Strongly disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly Agree
50	Does anyone in this society provide you with emotional support?	Strongly disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly Agree
51	A pregnant woman that is sexually violated is not allowed to report to the elders, it is shameful	Strongly disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly Agree

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.15566/38azmq97 | Journal eISSN: 2167-2415

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Language: English

Page range: 3 - 18

Submitted on: Mar 19, 2025

Accepted on: Dec 29, 2025

Published on: Apr 17, 2026

Published by: Global Health Institute at William Carey International University

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

© 2026 Joan Lanyero, Emmanuel Otieno, Mushin Nsubuga, Jackline Kobusingye, Josephine Namyalo, published by Global Health Institute at William Carey International University
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 13 (2026): Issue 1