Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: Gender -based Violence Screening Methods Preferred by Women  Visiting a Public 
Hospital in Pune, India.  
 
Version: 0 Date: 27 Sep 2017  
 
Reviewer: Anuradha Paranjape  
 
Reviewer's report:  
 
Please include all comments for the authors in this box rather than uploading your report as an 
attachment. Please only upload as attachments annotated versions of manuscripts, graphs, 
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My biggest concern with this paper is that the methods section is very brief and appears to omit 
details. It appears to be a convenience sample - how did the counselors decide which women to 
approach? It is certainly possible that th ere was selection bias. One example - if women were 
accompanied by a mother in law or other family members it is possible that such women were 
not interviewed.  
Second, the definition of GBV is open to bias -since it is self reported and some women may not 
consider themselves to be abused, which is why the prevalence is lower (or incidence)  
It is not clear if the study measures lifetime abuse, incident abuse or prevalence over a certain 
time frame.  
Third - were any safety measures in place if ongoing abuse or escalating abuse was disclosed?  
Since there are significant issues with the methods, I cannot really comment on the findings  
The study was conducted before a paper that describes how well does the WHO definition of 
GBV work in an Indian context [5.  Kalokh e, AS, Potdar RR, Stephenson, R,  Dunkle, KL,  
Paranjape,A,  del Rio C, Sahay,S, How well does the World Health Organization Definition of 
Domestic Violence Work for India?  PLoS ONE, 2015; 10(3): e0120909. PMID [25811374]. Dr 
Kalokhe has also developed a scale to measure Family violence in an Indian context -and that 
definition is inclusive of acts of abuse where the perpetrator is an in -law. This study was 
conducted in Pune, India, which is where BJMC is located (full disclosure, I am co -I and I am a 
BJMC /Sassoon alumna).  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Are the methods appropriate and well described?  
If not, please specify what is required in your comments to the authors.  
 
No 
 
Does the work include the necessary controls?  
If not, please specify which controls are required in your comments to the authors.  
 
No 
 
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the data shown?  
If not, please explain in your comments to the authors.  
 
Unable to assess  
 
Are you able to assess any statistics in the manuscript or would you recommend an  
additional statistical review?  
If an additional statistical review is recommended, please speci fy what aspects require further  
assessment in your comments to the editors.  
 
I am able to assess the statistics  
 
Quality of written English  
Please indicate the quality of language in the manuscript:  
 
Acceptable  
 
Declaration of competing interests  
Please comp lete a declaration of competing interests, considering the following questions:  
 
1. Have you in the past five years received reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an  
organisation that may in any way gain or lose financially from the publication of t his 
manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
2. Do you hold any stocks or shares in an organisation that may in any way gain or lose  
financially from the publication of this manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
3. Do you hold or are you currently apply ing for any patents relating to the content of the  
manuscript?  
 
4. Have you received reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an organization that 
holds  or has applied for patents relating to the content of the manuscript?  
 
5. Do you have any other fina ncial competing interests?  
 
6. Do you have any non -financial competing interests in relation to this paper?  
If you can answer no to all of the above, write 'I declare that I have no competing interests' 
below.  If your reply is yes to any, please give details below.  
 
I have a vested interest in seeing this paper published since I trained at this institution and am 
well aware of the issue of GBV in India.  
 
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on my report to the authors and, if the manuscript is acc epted for publication, my named report  
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which I do not wish to be included in my named report can be included as confidential comments  
to the editors, which will not be published.  
 
I agree to the open peer review policy of the journal