Health care providers' perspectives on delivering gender equity focused family planning program for young married couples in a cluster randomized controlled trial in rural Maharashtra, India.

 There is increasing programming and research on male engagement and gender-equity (GE) counselling in family planning (FP) services. However, there is a lack of data on healthcare provider's perspectives on delivering these interventions. The objective of the paper is to present providers' perspectives on delivering a GE-focused FP intervention, CHARM, to married couples in rural India.

Measuring Gender-Based Household Maltreatment in Urban Slums of Mumbai, India.

Emerging research has documented non-violent forms of abuse against wives in India. Gender-based household maltreatment (GBHM) has been linked to poor maternal and child health outcomes, but the measurement of GBHM requires statistical validation. The objective of this study is to evaluate a new measure of GBHM of women by husbands and in-laws during the perinatal period for validity and internal reliability (before, during, and post pregnancy).

Associations between intimate partner violence and married women's condom and other contraceptive use in rural India.

Unlabelled: Background The existing literature on the intersection between women's reports of spousal intimate partner violence (IPV) and contraceptive use in South Asia is conflicted. Results vary based on method of contraception use and form of violence (physical or sexual), and few examine the relationship between IPV and various methods of modern spacing contraceptive (MSC) use. This study examines associations between IPV and MSC use among a sample of married, not-currently pregnant couples in rural Maharashtra, India (n=861).

Assessing the relationship between intimate partner violence, externally-decided pregnancy and unintended pregnancies among women in slum communities in Mumbai, India.

Background: India contends with a high rate of intimate partner violence (IPV), which is associated with unintended pregnancy and reflects low levels of women's decision-making control in relation to their reproductive health. Few studies from South Asia have examined the relationship between pregnancy decision-making, IPV and unintended pregnancy.

Aim: This study examined associations between unintended (mistimed and unwanted) pregnancy, women's reports of pregnancy decided externally by husband or in-laws, and IPV, among a sample of married, postpartum women.

Understanding Men's Elevated Alcohol Use, Gender Equity Ideologies, and Intimate Partner Violence Among Married Couples in Rural India.

Qualitative evidence suggests that husbands' inequitable gender equity (GE) ideologies may influence associations between husbands' alcohol use and intimate partner violence (IPV) against wives. However, little quantitative research exists on the subject. To address this gap in the literature, associations of husbands' elevated alcohol use and GE ideologies with wives' reports of IPV victimization among a sample of married couples in Maharashtra, India, were examined.

Can a Gender Equity and Family Planning Intervention for Men Change Their Gender Ideology? Results from the CHARM Intervention in Rural India.

We assess the effect of CHARM, a gender equity and family planning counseling intervention for husbands in rural India, on men's gender ideology. We used a two-armed cluster randomized control trial design and collected survey data from husbands (n=1081) at baseline, 9 months, and 18 months. We used a continuous measure of support for gender equity and a dichotomous measure of equitable attitudes toward women's role in household decision-making.

Masculine Gender Ideologies, Intimate Partner Violence, and Alcohol Use Increase Risk for Genital Tract Infections Among Men.

Masculine gender ideologies are thought to underlie alcohol use, intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration, and sexual risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). We extend on studies in the Indian context by examining the roles of masculine gender ideologies, alcohol use, and IPV on three outcomes of HIV risk (condom use, genital tract infection [GTI] symptoms, and GTI diagnosis). We applied logistic regression models to cross-sectional data of men and their wives in rural Maharashtra, India ( = 1,080 couples).

Longitudinal analysis of the impact of economic empowerment on risk for intimate partner violence among married women in rural Maharashtra, India.

The purpose of this study was to assess via longitudinal analysis whether women's economic empowerment and financial inclusion predicts incident IPV. This prospective study involved analysis of three waves of survey data collected from rural young married women (n = 853 women) in Maharashtra at baseline and 9&18 month follow-ups. This study, which was in the field from 2012 to 2014, was conducted as part of a larger family planning evaluation study unrelated to economic empowerment.

Longitudinal associations of intimate partner violence attitudes and perpetration: Dyadic couples data from a randomized controlled trial in rural India.

We conducted longitudinal analyses examining the associations between intimate partner violence (IPV) attitudes and women's reported IPV in couples (N = 762) using 3 waves of data from a randomized controlled trial in Maharashtra, India. We found that, between Waves 1 and 2, men's and women's acceptance of IPV in the overall population decreased significantly while reports of IPV increased. These changes, we hypothesize, are evidence of an exogenous shock, possibly a high profile rape in Delhi in December 2012, that may have impacted the entire population.

Maternal morbidity associated with violence and maltreatment from husbands and in-laws: findings from Indian slum communities.

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization is linked to a broad range of negative maternal health outcomes. However, it is unclear whether IPV is directly related to poor maternal outcomes or whether IPV is a marker for other forms of chronic, mundane maltreatment of women that stem from the culture of gender inequity that also gives rise to IPV. To determine the prevalence of non-violent forms of gender-based household maltreatment by husbands and in-laws (GBHM), and violence from in-laws (ILV) and husbands (IPV) against women during the peripregnancy period (during and in the year prior to pregnancy); to assess relative associations of GBHM, ILV and IPV with maternal health.

Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluation of a Gender Equity and Family Planning Intervention for Married Men and Couples in Rural India.

Background: Despite ongoing recommendations to increase male engagement and gender-equity (GE) counseling in family planning (FP) services, few such programs have been implemented and rigorously evaluated. This study evaluates the impact of CHARM, a three-session GE+FP counseling intervention delivered by male health care providers to married men, alone (sessions 1&2) and with their wives (session 3) in India.

Methods And Findings: A two-armed cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted with young married couples (N = 1081 couples) recruited from 50 geographic clusters (25 clusters randomized to CHARM and a control condition, respectively) in rural Maharashtra, India.

Access to Money and Relation to Women's Use of Family Planning Methods Among Young Married Women in Rural India.

Objectives The social positioning (i.e. social status and autonomy) of women in the household facilitates women's access to and decision-making power related to family planning (FP).

CHARM, a gender equity and family planning intervention for men and couples in rural India: protocol for the cluster randomized controlled trial evaluation.

Background: Globally, 41% of all pregnancies are unintended, increasing risk for unsafe abortion, miscarriage and maternal and child morbidities and mortality. One in four pregnancies in India (3.3 million pregnancies, annually) are unintended; 2/3 of these occur in the context of no modern contraceptive use.

Intimate partner violence among married couples in India and contraceptive use reported by women but not husbands.

Objective: To assess whether intimate partner violence (IPV) is associated with discordant reports of contraceptive use (whereby wives but not husbands report such use) among married couples in Maharashtra, India.

Methods: The present cross-sectional study in rural Maharashtra, India, analyzed survey data collected in 2012 among husbands and wives aged 18-30 years, fluent in Marathi, with no prior sterilization, and with no current pregnancy or plans to conceive. Crude and adjusted logistic regression models assessed husbands' perpetration of IPV in relation to discordant reports of contraceptive use.

Association between tribal status and spacing contraceptive use in rural Maharashtra, India.

This study examines associations between tribal status and spacing contraception use (SCU) in rural Maharashtra, India. Cross-sectional analyses were conducted on baseline survey data from non-sterilized married couples (n = 867) participating in the CHARM family planning evaluation study. Participants were aged 18-30 years and 67.

Husband's Alcohol Use, Intimate Partner Violence, and Family Maltreatment of Low-Income Postpartum Women in Mumbai, India.

Husbands' alcohol use has been associated with family-level stress and intimate partner violence (IPV) against women in India. Joint family systems are common in India and IPV often co-occurs with non-violent family maltreatment of wives (e.g.

Initiating Smokeless Tobacco Use across Reproductive Stages.

Background: The use of smokeless tobacco (SLT) among women is increasing in India, especially among those with limited education and resources. Preventing the initiation of SLT among women is critical since it has known negative consequences for oral and reproductive health. Most research on tobacco initiation in India focuses on adolescents.

Household Debt and Relation to Intimate Partner Violence and Husbands' Attitudes Toward Gender Norms: A Study Among Young Married Couples in Rural Maharashtra, India.

Objective: Evidence has linked economic hardship with increased intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration among males. However, less is known about how economic debt or gender norms related to men's roles in relationships or the household, which often underlie IPV perpetration, intersect in or may explain these associations. We assessed the intersection of economic debt, attitudes toward gender norms, and IPV perpetration among married men in India.

Family Violence and Maltreatment of Women During the Perinatal Period: Associations with Infant Morbidity in Indian Slum Communities.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of non-violent, gender-based forms of maltreatment of women by husbands and in-laws [i.e., gender-based household maltreatment (GBHM)] during pregnancy and postpartum; to clarify the role of GBHM in compromising infant health, and whether this role extends beyond that previously observed for intimate partner violence (IPV).

Socio-demographic factors associated with domestic violence in urban slums, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.

Background & Objectives: Domestic violence is identified as a public heath problem. It is associated with adverse maternal health. This study examined the prevalence and determinants of domestic violence among women in urban slums of Mumbai, India.

Age at menarche, education, and child marriage among young wives in rural Maharashtra, India.

Younger age at menarche—on its own and through interaction with lower education—significantly increases risk of child marriage among girls in rural Maharashtra, India.

Use of smokeless tobacco by Indian women aged 18-40 years during pregnancy and reproductive years.

Objectives: This paper discusses patterns of daily smokeless tobacco (SLT) use and correlates of poly SLT use among married women aged 18-40 years in a Mumbai slum community with implications for tobacco control.

Methods: Using a mixed methods approach, the study included a structured survey with 409 daily SLT users and in-depth interviews with 42 women. Participants for the survey were selected using a systematic sampling procedure (one woman in every fourth eligible household).

Association of Domestic Violence From Husband and Women Empowerment in Slum Community, Mumbai.

Prevalence of violence by husband against wife is an indicator of women's status at household level. The objective of the study is to understand the relationship between domestic violence and women's empowerment in a slum community in Mumbai, India. Data were collected from a sample of 1,136 married women aged 18 to 39 years having at least one child and reporting of unmet need for family planning.

Acceptability of male condom: an Indian scenario.

The National Family Planning Programme of India had introduced condom as one of the family planning methods in the late 1960s. Condom was promoted as a family planning method through social marketing since its inception. With the increasing prevalence and incidence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV/AIDS, condom was also promoted as a dual method for protection against both unintended pregnancies as well as sexually transmitted infections.