Social Determinants of Married Women’s Attitudinal Acceptance of Intimate Partner Violence

Using data from the first round of Demographic and Health Surveys for 22 developing countries, we examine the effect of maternal education on three markers of child health: infant mortality, children's height-for-age, and immunization status. In contrast to other studies, we argue that although there is a strong correlation between maternal education and markers of child health, a causal relationship is far from established. Education acts as a proxy for the socioeconomic status of the family and geographic area of residence. Introducing controls for husband's education and access to piped water and toilet attenuate the impact of maternal education on infant mortality and children's height-for-age. This effect is further reduced by controlling for area of residence through the use of fixed-effects models. In the final model, maternal education has a statistically significant impact on infant mortality and height-for-age in only a handful of countries. In contrast, maternal education remains statistically significant for children's immunization status in about one-half of the countries even after individual-level and community-level controls are introduced.

We sought to obtain evidence about the scope of women's empowerment and the mechanisms underlying the significant reduction in intimate partner violence documented by the Intervention With Microfinance for AIDS and Gender Equity (IMAGE) cluster-randomized trial in rural South Africa. The IMAGE intervention combined a microfinance program with participatory training on understanding HIV infection, gender norms, domestic violence, and sexuality. Outcome measures included past year's experience of intimate partner violence and 9 indicators of women's empowerment. Qualitative data about changes occurring within intimate relationships, loan groups, and the community were also collected. After 2 years, the risk of past-year physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner was reduced by more than half (adjusted risk ratio=0.45; 95% confidence interval=0.23, 0.91). Improvements in all 9 indicators of empowerment were observed. Reductions in violence resulted from a range of responses enabling women to challenge the acceptability of violence, expect and receive better treatment from partners, leave abusive relationships, and raise public awareness about intimate partner violence. Our findings, both qualitative and quantitative, indicate that economic and social empowerment of women can contribute to reductions in intimate partner violence.

We examined individual- and community-level influences on domestic violence in Uttar Pradesh, North India. Multilevel modeling was used to explore domestic violence outcomes among a sample of 4520 married men. Recent physical and sexual domestic violence was associated with the individual-level variables of childlessness, economic pressure, and intergenerational transmission of violence. A community environment of violent crime was associated with elevated risks of both physical and sexual violence. Community-level norms concerning wife beating were significantly related only to physical violence. Important similarities as well as differences were evident in risk factors for physical and sexual domestic violence. Higher socioeconomic status was found to be protective against physical but not sexual violence. Our results provide additional support for the importance of contextual factors in shaping women's risks of physical and sexual violence.