Do women with autonomy in the household experience less intimate partner violence in Malawi? Evidence from the 2015–16 Demographic and Health Survey

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
James Forty

Abstract In Malawi, the prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV), or closely related violence, is estimated at 42% according to the 2015–16 Malawi Demography and Health Survey (MDHS). This study investigated the association between women’s autonomy in household decision-making participation as well as sexual autonomy and IPV among married and cohabiting women aged 15–49 years in Malawi. Secondary data were taken from the 2015–16 MDHS. Multivariate analysis was performed using a stepwise forward logistic (binary) regression model to assess the association of dimensions of women’s autonomy in the household and selected control variables with IPV. No association was found between dimensions of women’s autonomy in the household and IPV. However, other variables did have an association with some form of IPV, namely women justifying wife beating, having a jealous partner, being accused of unfaithfulness by their partner, having a partner who drinks alcohol and having a partner with another woman or more. In addition, religion, ethnicity, women education level and women’s occupation were found to be associated with the risk of experiencing IPV. The study recommends policy interventions aimed at supporting youth, especially girls, to complete secondary education before they marry or cohabit; the development of accessible and affordable psycho-social counselling specialists and platforms for married and cohabiting couples; nationwide rigorous advocacy and civic education on IPV; and enforcement of Malawi’s 2006 domestic violence law.

2019 ◽  
pp. 088626051988853
Author(s):  
Adegbenga M. Sunmola ◽  
Mohammed N. Sambo ◽  
Olusegun A. Mayungbo ◽  
Luqman A. Morakinyo

Existing studies show a consensus on the importance of women’s household decision-making autonomy. However, the studies also show mixed findings of the association between the variable and intimate partner violence (IPV). In this study, moderating effects of husband’s controlling and domineering attitudes on the association between women’s household decision-making autonomy and husband-perpetrated physical, sexual, and emotional violence were investigated. Data used in the study were drawn from an existing database of a 2013 cross-sectional Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) of nationally representative sample ( N = 19,360) of Nigerian married women. Participants were interviewed on measures of women’s autonomy, husband’s attitudes, and husband-perpetrated violence. Results revealed that women who exercised high household decision-making autonomy significantly experienced more physical ( b = .31, t = 11.78, p < .001), sexual ( b = .05, t = 3.59, p < .01), and emotional ( b = .17, t = 9.76, p < .001) violence if they reported relationship with husbands who endorsed high controlling and domineering attitudes. The results represent an extension over existing research and have implications on how husband’s attitudes could improve women’s autonomy and reduce their IPV experience in various intervention settings.


2021 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Betregiorgis Zegeye ◽  
Gebretsadik Shibre ◽  
Bright Opoku Ahinkorah ◽  
Mpho Keetile ◽  
Sanni Yaya

Abstract Background Globally, intimate partner violence is one of the most common forms of gender-based violence, and wife beating is one component of intimate partner violence, with the problem being more severe among women living in rural settings. Little is known about the factors that explain the urban-rural disparity in the prevalence of wife beating attitude in Senegal. In this paper, we aimed to decompose the urban-rural disparities in factors associated with wife beating attitude among married women in Senegal. Methods Data were derived from the 2017 Senegal Continuous Demographic and Health Survey. We used the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition method to decompose and explain the variation in the prevalence of disagreement to wife beating between urban and rural areas in Senegal. Results The results show that 48.9% of married women in Senegal disagreed with wife-beating. About 69% of urban women disagreed with wife beating, but only 36% of rural women disagreed with wife beating. About 68.7% of women in the sample reported that they disagreed to wife beating by their husbands for burning food and nearly 50% of women reported that they disagreed with wife beating when they refuse to have sex with their husbands. About 86% of the urban-rural disparities in disagreement with wife beating are explained in this study. Economic status (45.2%), subnational region (22.4%), women’s educational status (13.3%), and husband’s educational status (10.7%) accounted for 91.6% of the disparities. Conclusions The study shows urban-rural disparities in the prevalence of wife-beating attitude (disagreement with wife beating) and this disfavored rural residents. We suggest the need for the government of Senegal to consider pro-rural equity strategies to narrow down the observed disparities. Moreover, socioeconomic empowerment and attitudinal changing interventions using existing socio-cultural institutions as platforms can be used to deliver such interventions.


2021 ◽  
pp. 107780122110457
Author(s):  
Alejandro Silva-Burga ◽  
Ali Al-kassab-Córdova ◽  
Jorge L. Maguina

We conducted a secondary data analysis based on the 2014, 2015, and 2016 Demographic and Health Surveys to determine the association between intimate partner violence (IPV) and depressive symptoms in Peruvian women aged 15–45 years. Depressive symptoms were assessed through the PHQ-9, while IPV was assessed through the CTS-2. A total of 24,099 subjects were included. The prevalence of depressive symptoms and IPV was 6.98% and 64.72%, respectively. Victims of IPV were 2.47 times more likely to have depressive symptoms compared to those who were never assaulted. In conclusion, there is a strong association between IPV and depressive symptoms.


Author(s):  
Kusanthan Thankian

The main aim of the study was to examine factors that affect women’s household decision-making among married women in Zambia. This paper utilizes secondary data from the 2013 Zambia Demographic Health Survey (ZDHS). Logistic regression analysis was used to identify various factors associated with factors that affect women’s autonomy in household decision-making among married women in Zambia. The findings of the study show that married women in Zambia are more likely to participate in decision-making that involved purchases of daily household needs (86%) followed by decision making that involved visits to her family or relatives (75%) and decisions about her own health care (74%). About 66per cent of the respondents reported having participated in household major purposes. Some socio-demographic variables only influenced women in some domains and not all. For instance, age only influenced decision-making on household goods and visits to family. Rich wealthy status, living in urban areas, higher levels of education and justification of wife-beating were influential to healthcare decision-making among women. Zambian programmes and policy initiatives should develop a clear policy foundation that should be crucial to empower women to take part in decision-making processes in the household. Moreover, enhancing their access to and control over economic resources and enabling them to establish and realise their rights are also essential means to empower women to be more autonomous in decision-making.


2021 ◽  
pp. 107780122097880
Author(s):  
Golshan Golriz ◽  
Skye Miner

This article uses the 2008 Egypt Demographic and Health Survey to explore the relationship between religion and women’s attitudes toward intimate partner violence (IPV). It also asks whether modernization, as measured by having a higher education or living in an urban area, can mediate or moderate this relationship. Using latent class analysis to create categories of women’s wife-beating attitudes, and multinomial regression to explore the relationship between religion, education, and urbanity, we find no significant relationship between being Muslim and justifying wife beating. Our data further suggest that neither education nor urbanity mediate or moderate this relationship.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emiru Merdassa Atomssa ◽  
Araya Abrha Medhanyie ◽  
Girmatsion Fisseha

Abstract Background The prevalence of Intimate partner violence (IPV) is higher in societies with higher acceptance of norms that support IPV. In Ethiopia, the proportion of women’s acceptance of IPV was 69%, posing a central challenge in preventing IPV. The main objective of this study was to assess the individual and community-level factors associated with women’s acceptance of IPV. Methods Two-level mixed-effects logistic regression was applied to the 2011 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey data. A total of 16,366 women nested in the 596 clusters were included in the analysis. Results The acceptability of the IPV was estimated to be 69%. Among the individual-level factors: women’s education with secondary and above (AOR = 0.38; 95% CI 0.29–0.52), partner’s education secondary and above (AOR = 0.71; 95% CI 0.54–0.82), women aged 35–49 years (AOR = 0.67; 95% CI 0.54–0.82), fully empowered in household level decision making (AOR = 0.67; 95% CI0.54–0.81), literate (AOR = 0.76; 95% CI 0.62–0.92), and perceived existence of law that prevents IPV (AOR = 0.56; 95% CI 0.50–0.63) were significantly associated with women’s acceptance of IPV. Similarly, rural residence (AOR = 1.93; 95% CI 1.53–2.43) and living in the State region (AOR = 2.37; 95% CI 1.81–3.10) were significantly associated with the women’s acceptance of IPV among the community-level factors. Conclusion Both individual and community-level factors were significant risk factors for the acceptability of intimate partner violence. Women's education, women's age, women’s empowerment, partner education level, perceived existence of the law, and literacy were among individual factors. State region and residence were among community-level risk factors significantly associated women’s acceptance of IPV.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caleb L Ward ◽  
Siobán D Harlow

Abstract Background Thirty percent of all women experience intimate partner violence (IPV) in their lifetime. The aim of this study was to examine the association between the World Health Organization’s (WHO) novel R.E.S.P.E.C.T framework for intervention and IPV prevalence among women in Kenya. Methods We used the 2014 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS). Only women selected for the domestic violence module and who were married/living with their partner were eligible for this study (n=3,737). We created a summary score for each strategy denoted by R.E.S.P.T based on availability of questions addressing these strategies in the KDHS, and a total score that summed responses across all strategies. Each letter was assessed with Cronbach’s Alpha. Multiple logistic regression models were used to investigate the relationship between R.E.S.P.T scores and IPV.Results All strategies except for E lowered the odds of IPV. Decision-making (R) was negatively associated with experiencing IPV (OR = 0.62 [0.53-0.72]). Land and property ownership (E) were positively associated with experiencing IPV (OR = 1.25 [1.08-1.43]). Access to health care (S) was negatively associated with experiencing IPV (OR = 0.55 [0.48-0.63]). Higher levels of wealth (P) were negatively associated with experiencing IPV (OR = 0.47 [0.37-0.62]). Not justifying wife-beating in any scenario (T) was negatively associated with experiencing IPV (OR = 0.39 [0.29-0.53]). After adjusting for demographics, a 1-unit increase in total R.E.S.P.T score was negatively associated with experiencing IPV (AOR= 0.63 [0.57-0.70]) with a similar finding for IPV in the past 12 months (AOR = 0.59 [0.53-0.66]). Younger age, higher education, and Muslim religion were associated with decreased odds of experiencing IPV while living in a rural location and working were associated with increased odds of experiencing IPV.Conclusions Our study provides initial evidence that by implementing the multi-strategy R.E.S.P.E.C.T framework, countries can dramatically lower the odds of women experiencing IPV. The DHS can be used as a tool to monitor implementation and efficacy of this novel strategy.


Author(s):  
Natasha Shaukat ◽  
Meesha Iqbal ◽  
Muhammad Arslan Khan

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.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document