Descriptive study on socio-demographic profile, pattern of injuries, aetiology and outcome of domestic violence at a tertiary care centre of Batticaloa district

Introduction

Domestic violence is common serious health problem in South Asian countries including Sri Lanka which has an immense impact on people's physical, psychological and social health in a community.

Objectives

To determine the socio-demographic characteristics, thepattern of injuries and outcome among patients with domestic violence injuries at a tertiary care centre in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka.

Methods

Fifty nine female patients with domestic violence injuries were recruited in our descriptive, cross-sectional study. A predesigned interviewer based questionnaire was used to collect data from the participants and was analysed statistically by simple proportions and percentage using SPSS analytical package (version 21). The Ethical Review Committee, Faculty of Health Care Sciences, Eastern University granted the ethical approval for the study.

Results

Fifty nine female respondents were recruited. The common demographic characteristic observed were the 21 to 40 years age group was poor socio-economic and educational status. The husbands acted as the perpetrators among most victims (42.4%). Majority of the respondents (71.2%) reported that their husbands abuse them under the influence of alcohol. Most respondents had sustained minor injuries including contusion (64.4%), laceration (15.3%) and fractures (18.6%) among them. The common reasons for violence encountered among them were arguments (67.8%) and financial reasons (16.9%). Even though 45.8% of respondents had been abused on multiple occasions, 86.4 % of them have not reported previous abuse legally. Most people denied seeking medicolegal action due to fear of family separation and poor knowledge of services available for domestic violence.

Conclusion

Domestic violence commonly affects the young female and is associated with illiteracy and poor socio-economic status of the victims. Arguments and financial issues are the commonest reason for violence. Most people are not aware of the potential of seeking medico-legal action and available services to help them.