Intimate partner violence in Belgium: prevalence, individual health outcomes, and relational correlates

Research on intimate partner violence (IPV) using national samples is important to guide prevention efforts. However, the latest prevalence estimates for Belgium date from more than ten years ago. Therefore, this study used population-based cross-sectional data (N = 1,472) to assess to what extent adult women and men in Belgium experienced psychological, physical or sexual violence from their current partner in the last year. Next to assessing the association with individual health correlates, we explored the association between IPV and relationship quality. The annual prevalence of physical IPV in a current relationship was 1.3%. Only women experienced sexual IPV (0.3%). Fourteen percent of the respondents reported psychological violence and no differences were noted between women and men. Victims of psychological IPV reported adverse mental health outcomes and the effect was stronger for women than for men. Additionally, psychological victimization was associated with a diminished level of relationship quality, but no gender differences were noted