The association between intimate partner violence and multiple partner fertility among Colombian women

• Published date: 01 October 2022
• Author: Iris Cardenas,Laura Cuesta
• Date: 01 October 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12656

RESEARCH

The association between intimate partner violence and

multiple partner fertility among Colombian women

Iris Cardenas|Laura Cuesta

School of Social Work, Rutgers, The State

University of New Jersey, New Brunswick,

New Jersey, United States

Correspondence

Iris Cardenas, School of Social Work, Rutgers,

The State University of New Jersey,

New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA.

Email: iec11@ssw.rutgers.edu

Abstract

Objective: This study assessed the relationship between

multiple partner fertility (MPF) and intimate partner vio-

lence (IPV) and whether such relationship differed by

children’s age.

Background: IPV negatively impacts the well-being of

women and children. Some risk factors for IPV, such as

financial insecurity and young age, have been identified.

Much less is known about the extent to which MPF, an

increasingly common experience for women in a wide

range of countries, is associated with an increased risk

of IPV.

Method: We used data of mothers with at least two chil-

dren from the Colombian 2015 Demographic and Health

Surveys (N=16,621). We estimated a series of logistic

regression models to examine the association between

MPF and IPV; our models controlled for various measures

of mothers’and households’characteristics.

Results: The prevalence of IPV was higher among mothers

with MPF than mothers with single partner fertility (SPF).

MPF was associated with an increased risk of IPV, but this

relationship was only significant for younger mothers

(aged 25–29 years).TheassociationbetweenMPFand

IPV did not differ by the age of the youngest child.

Conclusion: Younger mothers with MPF are at a higher

risk of experiencing IPV than younger mothers with SPF.

Implications: IPV programming would benefit from

targeted interventions aimed at young mothers with MPF

and their children. More research exploring the dynamics

of family complexity and IPV is needed.

More than one in four women experience physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence

(IPV) worldwide (World Health Organization [WHO], 2013). Although this phenomenon is

widespread, the highest exposure to IPV is observed in less affluent contexts: Approximately

one in three women living in the Global South experience IPV in their lifetime (WHO, 2013).

Received: 2 January 2021Revised: 6 July 2021Accepted: 18 September 2021

DOI: 10.1111/fare.12656

© 2022 National Council on Family Relations.

Family Relations. 2022;71:1679–1697. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare 1679

Between 2009 and 2014, one in five women were killed by a romantic partner or ex-partner in

Colombia (Jolin, 2016). IPV survivors are also more likely to endure physical and mental health

problems (Jordan et al., 2010; Plichta, 2004). These problems are particularly detrimental for

survivors living in low-income regions because of existing health inequities (Orach, 2010).

Although we have begun to understand some of the factors (e.g., financial insecurity

and young age) associated with a higher risk of IPV (Abramsky et al., 2011; Yakubovich

et al., 2018), less is known about the role that family complexity plays in the experience

of violence. The rise in union instability, cohabitation, and nonmarital childbearing has

increased the likelihood that adults have children by more than one partner, a phenome-

non known in the literature as multiple-partner fertility (MPF). Although MPF is preva-

lent in a wide range of countries (Cancian et al., 2011; Cuesta & Mogollon, 2019;

Schmeer & Hays, 2017; Thomson et al., 2014), women in less affluent regions experience

this type of family complexity at a higher rate. In 2015, approximately one in three

Colombian women with at least two children had MPF (Cuesta & Mogollon, 2019).

Moreover, the likelihood of experiencing MPF by age 25 years was disproportionally

high among women born between 1986 and 1990 (29.5%) relative to older cohorts

(13.7%; Cuesta & Mogollon, 2019).

Theoretically, there are two mechanisms through which MPF may be associated with a

higher risk of IPV. First, uncertainty about who is part of the family and their roles within the

family unit may result in higher levels of stress and conflict in couple relationships, which may

lead to an increased risk of IPV (Gage, 2005). Second, MPF may be associated with higher

exposure to IPV by diffusing social support. Although MPF may increase access to multiple

extended families, uncertainty about responsibilities to each other and children may ultimately

limit the amount of support women with MPF receive from kin networks (Harknett &

Knab, 2007). These mechanisms exacerbate the situation of women with MPF because they

tend to be more socioeconomically disadvantaged (Carlson & Furstenberg, 2006; Cuesta &

Mogollon, 2019).

It is also possible that IPV is a risk factor for MPF. Women who experience IPV tend to

have less autonomy in their reproductive health (Grace & Anderson, 2018), often leading to

unplanned pregnancies (Coker, 2007). Those who can leave an abusive relationship might be at

a higher risk for revictimization when repartnering due to increased psychological difficulties

and economic dependence (Voth Schrag, 2015), especially if they have children (Bowie &

Dopwell, 2013). For these reasons, experiencing IPV may be associated with a higher risk of

MPF, and MPF may be associated with increased risk of IPV.

Thus far, no study has examined how MPF is associated with the risk of experiencing IPV.

Our study addresses this research gap by looking at the case of Colombia, a country with high

prevalence of MPF and IPV (Cuesta & Mogollon, 2019; Torres & O’Connor, 2019). We con-

ducted a series of descriptive statistics and multivariate regression analyses using the 2015

Colombian Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) with the aim of examining whether an

association between MPF and IPV victimization exists. We also investigated whether the asso-

ciation between MPF and IPV differs by the age of children because it may moderate family

boundary ambiguity and diffusion of social support.

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES AND PRIOR RESEARCH

MPF may be associated with a higher risk of IPV through two mechanisms: family boundary

ambiguity and diffusion or lack of social support. In the following sections, we focus on these

two theoretical perspectives and discuss how they might lead to IPV. We then review prior

research on other demographic and socioeconomic factors found to be associated with a higher

risk of experiencing IPV among women.

1680 FAMILY RELATIONS