Violence against women is an obstacle to the achievement of the objectives of equality, development and peace. It both violates and impairs or nullifies the enjoyment by women of their human rights and fundamental freedoms. Tolerance and experience of domestic violence are significant barriers to the empowerment of women and it has a negative health consequences for victims, especially with respect to the reproductive health of women and the physical, emotional, and mental health of their children.
Women whose husband or partner has ever demonstrated controlling behaviors (% of ever-married women ages 15-49)
Collecting valid, reliable, and ethical data on domestic violence poses particular challenges because what constitutes violence or abuse varies across cultures and among individuals. In addition, a culture of silence usually surrounds domestic violence and can affect reporting.
Percentage of ever-married women ages 15-49 whose husband or partner has ever demonstrated 3 or more of the specific behaviors from the following: jealous or angry if she talks to other men; accuses her of being unfaithful; not permit her to meet her female friends; tries to limit her contact with her family;  insists on knowing where she is at all times; does not trust her with any money
Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) are nationally-representative household surveys that provide data for a wide range of monitoring and impact evaluation indicators in the areas of population, health, and nutrition. The surveys use model quesionnaires that contain a core set of questions that span all questionnaires, in addition to country-specific questions. Surveys have large sample sizes (usually between 5,000 and 30,000 households) and are typically conducted about every 5 years, to allow comparisons over time. The time to complete a survey depends on survey type, survey instruments, and sample size. Eligible households and individuals are usually obtained in a sampling frame from the National Statistics Office of the country. The time it takes to conduct all interviews is on average 18-20 months. 

Data on domestic violence in DHS surveys comes from an optional module of questions. Thus, indicators in this chapter are available for some, but not all countries. Additionally, The DHS Program, in accordance with the WHO guidelines “Putting Women First: Ethical and Safety Recommendations for Research on Domestic Violence against Women” World Health Organization, 2001, randomly selects only one woman per household among all eligible women in the household selected for the individual questionnaire for this module. Thus, the number of women who have information for domestic violence will always be less than the number of women selected for the complete DHS individual interview.

 A large part of the domestic violence module asks about violence perpetrated by the current husband/partner for women who are currently married and the most recent husband/partner for women who are currently divorced, separated or widowed. Thus, women who have been ever-married are asked many more questions about their experience of violence than women who have never been married. Note also that ever-married women are women who self-report as being married, divorced, separated, or widowed, or living with or having ever lived with a man as if married. Thus, a “partner” is a man with whom the respondent lives with or lived with as if married. A previous husband/partner is a husband/partner other than the current husband/partner for currently married women and the most recent husband/partner for divorced, separated, or widowed women.