Intergenerational Transmission of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) : Evidence from the Thai Context

This paper asks to what extent that the exposure to mothers’ experience of intimate violence at young age affects women’s own intimate violence in the context of Thailand where the topic of gender-based violence remains understudied. We specifically explore how attitudes towards intimate violence can explain or mediate the relationship between the childhood’s exposure and women’s own intimate violence. Data from a survey of Intimate Partner Violence and Women’s Health in Thailand conducted in 2000 were used. A total of 2,818 women were included in the analysis. Findings show that mother’s IPV has a direct impact on women’s experiencing IPV and the effects are not mediated by women’s attitudes towards violence. Childhood exposure to parents’ IPV is consequential on women’s later life. Intimate partner violence is intergenerational transmission. Reducing level of violence against women, thus, will not only benefit current generation, but also later generations.