Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a form of violence
perpetrated by men or women against their spouses or partners. It is
a frequent form of gender violence globally and in sub-Saharan
Africa. IPV has been associated with a range of negative health
outcomes such as still birth, premature delivery, low birth weight,
high risk of STI, low use of maternal health care and unintended
pregnancies for women and their children. Other consequences
include low self-esteem, strained relationships with health providers
and employers, isolation from social networks and fear of intimacy.
This paper seeks to determine the association between IPV and
contraceptive behaviour among women in Malawi and Zambia. Data
was sourced from nationally representative samples of 5 234 women
in Malawi (2010) and 4 115 women in Zambia (2007) all aged 15–49.
The binary and multinomial logistic regression modelling were
applied to examine the unadjusted and adjusted influence of intimate
partner violence on contraceptive use and method choice. Results
showed that 43% and 38% of women in Malawi and Zambia,
respectively, were using contraceptives while 22% of women in
Malawi and 43% in Zambia reported experience of IPV. There was
no statistically significant association between experience of IPV and contraceptive use in the two countries. In terms of contraceptive
choice, women who experienced IPV had a higher likelihood of
choosing traditional methods relative to no methods in Malawi and
lower likelihood of choosing traditional methods relative to no
methods in Zambia.