Intimate partner violence

Which factor needs the highest attention to reduce Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) against women in Bangladesh is the aim of this study. We used data from currently married women only of age 15-49 years from Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2007. Univariate, bivariate techniques and multivariate logistic regressions were performed. The results show that 24% women experienced any form of IPV. The most experienced form is slap and the main reason reported is without any reason. The youngest, working women are more likely to experience IPV than their respective counterparts. Muslim respondents are significantly more likely to report experiencing violence. Spousal violence is less for respondents with more marital duration; and with increases of age at first marriage IPV decreases. Unskilled labors reported experiencing more violence than other occupational groups; and respondents also reported having more IPV with husbands from unskilled labor group. Spousal violence is more among those respondents whose mothers have ever been beaten by their father, and who thinks wife beating is justified to them. Finally father ever hit or beat respondent’s mother is found to be the most significant factor for IPV which needs urgent attention to reducing this important social problem.

The autonomy of the woman emerges as a central and separate dimension to consider in understanding health behavior. In fact, several authors have highlighted its influence on the use of maternal health care in developing countries. However, if the individual autonomy is relevant, it nevertheless deserves to be placed and analyzed within the social context in which the woman lives. Not only the social context and their norms have a direct influence on the use of care, but in addition, it shapes and structures the women autonomy. Using DHS data from Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, we measure the norms related to violence against women and assess their impact on women autonomy. Confirmatory Factor Analysis show a good model fits for the measure of the latent variable related to violence against women (Cronbach's alpha > 0.8; RMSEA <0.04 and CFI>=0.96). In addition, controlling for women attitudes toward wife beating, we found that women who live in area where acceptance of wife beating is high are more likely to be of low autonomy.

This paper investigates the association between mass education and domestic violence against wives in rural Nepal. Previous research on domestic violence in South Asian societies reveals the important influence of prevailing patriarchal ideology and the subordinate status of women within the family. However, the recent spread of mass education is likely to have important consequences in the opposite direction. Using data from 1,778 currently married women and their husbands from the Chitwan Valley Family Study in Nepal, we test the consequences of spread of mass education for domestic violence against wives. The results show that women’s childhood access to school, their parents’ schooling, and women’s own and their husbands' schooling each tend to reduce wives’ likelihood of experiencing domestic violence. Indeed husbands’ education is a particularly powerful force reducing domestic violence against wives. These associations explain the historical declines in the incidence of domestic violence against wives in Nepal.

The prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) in the Democratic Republic of Congo is among the highest in the world. The data analyzed in this paper are derived from a 2012 survey in two provinces in Eastern DRC: Nord Kivu and Sud Kivu. First, we assessed the prevalence of the various forms of intimate partner violence (physical, sexual and emotional) for men and women. Subsequently, we used logistic regression to identify the factors associated with recent experience of IPV for each sex. The data showed that the various forms of IPV were common among men and women in the study provinces. More than one quarter of men and 40% of women have reportedly ever experienced physical IPV while 15.7% of men and 25.1% of women have ever experienced sexual form of IPV. Moreover, the various forms of IPV were strongly correlated, such that many men and women had been exposed to multiple forms of IPV in their lifetime. The factors associated with an experience of IPV differ depending on the type of IPV and by sex. The data suggest that addressing IPV in DRC will require a comprehensive approach. Programs focusing on improving partner communication, reducing alcohol abuse and strengthening community structures for IPV reduction and those that specifically target people with low education should be part of this comprehensive approach.