Intimate partner violence (IPV) affects millions of women across the world, and Pakistan is no exception. However, there is wide variance in reported frequencies worldwide and even within the same population. No standardized representative national and subnational estimates were available for IPV in Pakistan. We analyzed 3,666 ever-married women (15-49 years), from the most recent Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS; 2012-2013), to determine the prevalence of emotional and physical violence among women in Pakistan and its major subpopulations. The Conflicts Tactics Scale (CTS) was used to ascertain violence. Furthermore, we examined the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, which have the potential to increase the risk of emotional and physical violence. Weighted multivariate logistic regression was carried out to determine the association of IPV with the potential risk factors using Stata version 13.0. The prevalence of emotional and physical violence was, respectively, 36.4% (95% confidence interval [CI]: [33.8, 39.1]) and 18.4% (95% CI: [16.4, 20.6]) in Pakistan. The frequency of emotional and physical violence was highest in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK; 54.9% and 36.4%) followed by Balochistan (50.0% and 25.5%), Punjab (35.9% and 15.8%), and Sindh (24.7% and 13.3%) provinces. The prevalence of any form of violence (emotional or physical or both) was higher in rural than in urban areas (45.2% vs. 30.6%). Higher age of the husband and lower socioeconomic status were associated with emotional violence in KPK. Furthermore, alcohol intake by husbands and lower educational status of women or their husbands were associated with greater risk of emotional and physical violence across the provinces. IPV is high in Pakistan and large variations exist in the prevalence of violence across the provinces. The predictors of emotional and physical violence included occupation and education of the husband, alcohol intake, woman's occupation, and wealth index. Further studies are needed to explore the underlying factors of violence and reasons for variation across different regions in the country for contextual interventions.

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Background: Child labour is common in low-and middle-income countries. Although child labour is widespread in Pakistan, no data are available on the health of child labourers. Aims: This study aimed to assess the food security, food intake and nutritional status of child labourers aged 5-14 years working in lower Sindh, Pakistan. Methods: Child labourers aged 5-14 years working in agriculture, manufacturing industry, hotels and restaurants, domestic work and migrant child labourers working in vegetable markets were recruited using a respondent-driven sampling technique. Sociodemographic and nutrition information was obtained by an interviewer questionnaire. The children's height and weight were measured to assess stunting (height-forage z scores less than-2) and wasting (weightfor-height z scores less than-2). Results: A total of 634 child labourers were included: 184 worked in agriculture, 120 in industry, 67 in hotels and restaurants, 63 in domestic work and 200 were migrant child labourers. Overall, 15.5% of the children were stunted and 30.0% were wasted. The prevalence of stunting was highest in children working in agriculture (27.2%) and the prevalence of wasting was highest in migrant child workers (35.0%). About half the children (51.1%) were suffering from food insecurity. Food inadequacy was mainly in consumption of vegetables/potatoes (98% of the children had inadequate intake), legumes (97%), fruits (96%), meat/ poultry (95%) and milk/dairy products (82%). Conclusion: The nutritional status and food insecurity of the child labourers of Pakistan are comparable with the general population, highlighting the grave situation of the country with regard to food security.

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Background: Endemicity of intimate partner violence (IPV) against women is established globally. Children are directly dependent on mothers for care and nourishment. Literature has shown inconsistent association between IPV and nutritional status of children, and no nationwide study has been conducted in Pakistan to test this association. Thus, we aimed to do a secondary data analysis on Pakistan Demographic Health Survey (PDHS 2012-13) to explore the association of IPV and the nutritional status of children.Methods: This secondary data analysis was conducted on nationally representative data of PDHS 2012-13. All four provinces, including Islamabad Capital Territory and Gilgit Baltistan districts were taken, and two stage stratified random sampling was performed. The conflict tactics scale (CTS) was used to quantify Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), and its emotional and physical dimensions.Results: This study included mother-child dyads (n=1851) who completed the domestic violence module in PDHS. The lifetime prevalence of intimate partner violence was almost 40% among married women of reproductive age group. About 20% of women reported emotional violence and 2.5% women reported physical violence only. However, 16% of the women reported having suffered from both emotional and physical violence. Women who suffered from emotional violence had children with significantly higher odds of being underweight (OR, 95% CI: 1.57, 1.04-2.36) and stunted (OR, 95% CI: 1.54, 1.05-2.24) respectively. IPV was not found to be significantly associated with occurrence of wasting in children.Conclusions: Policy implications towards this issue call for establishing programmes and laws to protect women and children from the detrimental effects of violence. Provision of initiatives which focus on women autonomy and empowerment via increased access to education and economic opportunities.