Gender based violence (gbv) and its effects on reproductive health among married women of india-a systematic review

Gender Violence stigmatizes a women for life, rendering her powerless to take control of her own health. Because of culture of silence and unequal power sharing in our society between a married couple, women becomes more prone to gender violence. GBV has gross reproductive health effects on women. We searched National Library of Medicine’s PubMed database, OVID, Cochrane Review and Psych INFO from January 1947 to January 2020 using the keywords such as “gender violence”, “intimate partner violence”, “reproductive health outcomes”, “pregnancy outcomes”, “contraception” and “reproductive health” Out of 1428, a total of three studies were found to be relevant and included in the present study. There were three forms of Intimate Partner Violence identified; Physical Violence, Sexual Violence, Emotional Violence. The Reproductive Health outcomes were classified based on; contraception use, susceptibility to HIV infection and Prenatal care. Our findings suggest a negative link strong link between Gender violence precipitated by husbands and the Reproductive Health of the women. The findings will be useful to plan reproductive health programs addressing GBV-based problems and aiming at economic emancipation of women especially among the low socio-economic groups. Niche specific community based Health programs should be incorporated along with National Reproductive Health Programs.