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Attitudes towards domestic violence in 49 low- and middle-income countries: A gendered analysis of prevalence and country-level correlates

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  • LynnMarie Sardinha
  • Héctor E Nájera Catalán

Abstract

Background: Violence against women by an intimate partner (DV) is a serious public health and human rights issue. Attitudes justifying DV strongly predict its perpetration and victimisation. This paper presents gendered ecological analyses of the societal acceptance of DV in 49 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) across geographical regions. Methods and findings: We utilised data from 49 Demographic and Health Surveys conducted between 2005 and 2017, United Nations Statistics and topic-specific meta-databases. DV acceptance was measured as the justification of ‘wife-beating’ in at least one of five circumstances, and by the summative scale. Stepwise multiple linear regression examined country-level social, economic and political empowerment predictors of societal acceptance of DV amongst women, men, and the aggregate gender difference. Women were more likely than men to justify DV in Sub-Saharan Africa and South (east) Asia with societal acceptance of DV being more widespread in these regions compared with Latin America, the Caribbean, Central/West Asia and Europe. Political conflict and limited economic rights for women were associated with higher levels of DV acceptance amongst women and men. Men in more democratic countries were less likely to justify DV. Amongst women, higher national female literacy rates predicted lower levels of justification. There were higher levels of DV acceptance amongst women and a wider aggregate gender difference in countries with a larger representation of women in national parliament. Conclusion: Justification of DV is widespread amongst women and men in LMICs with acceptance rates varying across countries and regions. Gender differences in the impact of contextual factors on DV acceptance supports a gendered approach to national-level interventions. Our findings highlight the need for tailored interventions targeting DV acceptance in conflict-impacted societies. The emphasis of inter(national) policies on the ‘empowerment’ domains of widely-used gender (in)equality indices need to be coupled with strategies tackling discriminatory gender norms.

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  • LynnMarie Sardinha & Héctor E Nájera Catalán, 2018. "Attitudes towards domestic violence in 49 low- and middle-income countries: A gendered analysis of prevalence and country-level correlates," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(10), pages 1-18, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0206101
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0206101
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    4. Mookerjee, Mehreen & Ojha, Manini & Roy, Sanket, 2021. "Spousal beliefs and intimate partner violence: Are we conditioned to internalize patriarchal norms?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    5. Andrés Sánchez-Prada & Carmen Delgado-Alvarez & Esperanza Bosch-Fiol & Virginia Ferreiro-Basurto & Victoria A. Ferrer-Perez, 2020. "Psychosocial Implications of Supportive Attitudes towards Intimate Partner Violence against Women throughout the Lifecycle," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-20, August.
    6. La Mattina, Giulia & Shemyakina, Olga N., 2024. "Growing up amid armed conflict: Women's attitudes toward domestic violence," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 645-662.
    7. Andrew Corley & Nancy Glass & Mitima Mpanano Remy & Nancy Perrin, 2021. "A Latent Class Analysis of Gender Attitudes and Their Associations with Intimate Partner Violence and Mental Health in the Democratic Republic of Congo," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-14, April.
    8. Annah Vimbai Bengesai & Sybert Mutereko, 2024. "Zimbabwean Women’s Attitudes Toward Wife-Beating and Associated Factors: A Latent Class Analysis," SAGE Open, , vol. 14(2), pages 21582440241, June.
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    10. Reine-Marcelle Ibala & Ilana Seff & Lindsay Stark, 2021. "Attitudinal Acceptance of Intimate Partner Violence and Mental Health Outcomes for Female Survivors in Sub-Saharan Africa," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-8, May.
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    12. Donati,Dante & Orozco Olvera,Victor Hugo & Rao,Nandan Mark, 2022. "Using Social Media to Change Gender Norms : An Experiment within Facebook Messenger in India," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10199, The World Bank.
    13. Annah Vimbai Bengesai & Evelyn Derera, 2021. "The Association Between Women Empowerment and Emotional Violence in Zimbabwe: A Cluster Analysis Approach," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(2), pages 21582440211, June.
    14. Priscilla Paola Severo & Leonardo B. Furstenau & Michele Kremer Sott & Danielli Cossul & Mariluza Sott Bender & Nicola Luigi Bragazzi, 2021. "Thirty Years of Human Rights Study in the Web of Science Database (1990–2020)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-23, February.
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