Do laws promoting gender equity and freedom from violence benefit the most vulnerable? A multilevel analysis of women's and adolescent girls' experiences in 15 low- and-middle-income countries.

ABSTRACT: In this analysis, we assess whether laws that promote gender equity and freedom from violence are associated with a lower risk of prior-year physical and sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) among adolescent girls and adult women (AGW) and whether these laws protect more and less vulnerable AGW equally. We included all 15 countries that administered the Domestic Violence Module in a Demographic and Health Survey since 2015. The primary exposure was a validated, country-level index of laws on violence against women and girls (LoVI). A multilevel approach was used to model five forms of violence (prior-year partner physical, sexual, physical or sexual violence and prior-year non-partner physical violence or sexual violence) among ever-partnered, non-widowed adolescent girls 13-19 years (n 

SUBMITTER: Maxwell L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8757492 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature