Author Description

The aim of this study is to examine intimate partner violence towards pregnant women, with the ambition of fulfilling the gap of available knowledge about this complex subject area, in the Chinese context. The specific objects are: 1) to assess the risk factors and forms associated with intimate partner violence during pregnancy 2) to explore the social dynamics and gender power relations that underline intimate partner violence during pregnancy by exploring the perceptions, attitudes and experiences of survivors and professionals about violence during pregnancy, connection of domestic violence and coping strategies of domestic violence survivors. It was a qualitative study involving 8 semi-structured interviews in 2011. Data was analyzed by narrative analysis. The results indicated the complexity of the issue of IPV during pregnancy from the viewpoints of both professionals and women. Moreover, it contributes to break the stereotype that survivors are passive victims. Finally, the experience in this paper might be transcended single cultural context to be common to women in other countries in the world.