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. 2025 Sep 8;25:929. doi: 10.1186/s12884-025-08049-2

Table 2.

Lifetime prevalence of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse reported by pregnant women* (N = 660)

Abuse Lifetime abuse
n (%)
302 (45.8)
In childhood
n (%)
212 (32.1)
In adulthood
n (%)
207 (31.4)
Last 12 months
n (%)
23 (3.5)
During pregnancy
n (%)
12 (1.8)
IPV Current spouse
n (%)
13 (2.0)
IPV Ex-spouse
n (%)
134 (20.3)
Emotional abuse 176 (26.7) 123 (18.6) 107 (16.2) 17 (2.6) 9 (1.4) 9 (1.4) 110 (16.7)
Mild 161 (24.5) 111 (16.9) 94 (14.3)
Moderate 112 (17.1) 55 (8.4) 72 (11.0)
Severe 72 (10.9) 43 (6.5) 39 (5.9)
Physical abuse 156 (23.6) 98 (14.8) 87 (13.2) 5 (0.8) 3 (0.5) 6 (0.9) 71 (10.8)
Mild 142 (21.6) 90 (13.7) 77 (11.7)
Moderate 100 (15.2) 53 (8.0) 59 (9.0)
Severe 49 (6.1) 17 (2.6) 28 (4.3)
Sexual abuse 215 (32.6) 139 (21.1) 139 (21.1) 4 (0.6) 1 (0.2) 2 (0.3) 58 (8.8)
Mild: no genital contact 179 (27.2) 104 (15.8) 114 (17.3)
Mild: emotional sexual humiliation 48 (7.4) 31 (4.8) 20 (3.1)
Moderate: genital contact 176 (26.9) 108 (16.5) 102 (15.6)
Severe: penetration 141 (21.5) 70 (10.7) 92 (14.0)

*Categories are not mutually exclusive, so the same woman may have reported several types of abuse