Female Participation in Household Decision Making and the Justification of Wife Beating in Bangladesh (original) (raw)
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Prevalence and determinants of wife-beating in Bangladesh: evidence from a nationwide survey
BMC Psychiatry
Background Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a global public health concern, with women in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) bearing a disproportionately high burden. This study investigates the prevalence and factors correlated with attitudes regarding wife-beating among Bangladeshi women in urban–rural contexts. Methods A sample of 13,033 urban women and 51,344 rural women data from the Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2019 were analyzed using the Chi-square test and ordinal logistic regression model. Results The findings reveal that arguing with her husband is the widespread reason for wife-beating in Bangladesh (urban: 17.3%, rural: 21.9%), followed by neglecting the children (urban: 12.7%, rural: 15.8%). About 8% of urban women and 10% of rural women favoured the opinion that refusing to involve sexual intercourse is a legitimate justification for wife-beating. In comparison, around 5% feel that a husband has a right to beat his wife due to burning fo...
2012
Understanding attitudes about intimate partner violence (IPV) in cultural context is important for developing interventions to reduce IPV and its effects. This paper presents qualitative findings from research conducted in rural Bangladesh to understand men's and women's responses to attitudinal questions about IPV. Both men and women often responded as if the questions were about their personal behavior. A few women said that their opinion did not matter. Women's responses were more sensitive than men's to contextual nuances in the questions, and men more often than women described their own attitudes as consistent with community norms. Intimate partner violence (IPV) often occurs in the context of cultural ideologies that support it, and these ideologies influence what individuals believe. A contextualized understanding of attitudes about IPV is an important basis for developing strategies for prevention. National surveys such as the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) often collect data on attitudes about IPV. To date, the DHS have collected data on the prevalence of IPV in more than 25 countries and on attitudes about IPV against women in more than 50 countries. According to these surveys, large percentages of men and women in many countries report that wife beating is justified in various situations (Kishor & Subaiya, 2008). In 17 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa in which this attitudinal question has appeared in the DHS, 29%-75% of women have reported that wife hitting or beating is justified, and the odds for women relative to men of reporting such views have varied widely, from less than one (0.91, 95% CI 0.83-0.99 in Lesotho) to more than five (5.51, 5.07-5.98 in Benin) (Uthman, Lawoko, & Moradi, 2010). Elsewhere, as many as 90% of women said wife-beating was justified for some reason (Yount & Li, 2009). In the Bangladesh 2004 DHS, 55% of men ages 15-49 said that a husband was justified in beating his wife in at least one of five scenarios (NIPORT, 2005). In the 2007 Bangladesh DHS, 36% of both men and women ages 15-49 said this (NIPORT, 2009). This paper presents qualitative findings from a project that explored what men and women mean when they respond to structured attitudinal questions about IPV against women. The research aims to improve quantitative tools to understand women's and men's attitudes about IPV and their perceptions of norms about IPV in their communities. Specifically, this paper addresses three research questions:
PLOS ONE, 2017
Bangladesh is a culturally conservative nation with limited freedom for women. A number of studies have evaluated intimate partner violence (IPV) and spousal physical violence in Bangladesh; however, the views of women have been rarely discussed in a quantitative manner. Three nationwide surveys in Bangladesh (2007, 2011, and 2014) were analyzed in this study to characterize the most vulnerable households, where women themselves accepted spousal physical violence as a general norm. 31.3%, 31.9% and 28.7% women in the surveys found justification for physical violence in household in 2007, 2011 and 2014 respectively. The binary logistic model showed wealth index, education of both women and their partner, religion, geographical division, decision making freedom and marital age as significant household contributors for women's perspective in all the three years. Women in rich households and the highly educated were found to be 40% and 50% less likely to accept domestic physical violence compared to the poorest and illiterate women. Similarly, women who got married before 18 years were 20% more likely accept physical violence in the family as a norm. Apart from these particular groups (richest, highly educated and married after 18 years), other groups had around 30% acceptance rate of household violence. For any successful attempt to reduce spousal physical violence in the traditional patriarchal society of Bangladesh, interventions must target the most vulnerable households and the geographical areas where women experience spousal violence. Although this paper focuses on women's attitudes, it is important that any intervention scheme should be devised to target both men and women.
Attitudes towards wife beating: A population-based study in Bangladesh
Violence and Gender, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a global public health problem that is significantly associated with morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study is to explore the factors associated with attitudes towards wife beating among women in Bangladesh. From the sixth Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS-2011) interview data, 17,842 women were included in this study. A woman’s age, household economic status, education (woman’s and her husband’s), women’s employment status, residence, region, decision making autonomy, and religion were assessed in relation to acceptance or justification of wife beating under five hypothetical situations: if the wife burns the food, argues with husband, goes out without telling her husband, neglects the children, and if she refuses to have sexual intercourse with husband. Of all the women who accept being beaten by their husbands, 23% accept it as a result of an argument, 18% due to neglecting their children, 17% due to going out without their husband’s permission, 8% due to refuse sex with husband and 4% due to burning the food. Low household economic status, women’s lower education, and being Muslim are the significant factors for a woman to accept to be beaten under the all five hypothetical situations. Bangladesh has a long way to go in preventing IPV, especially because of poverty, low level of education and unequal power in the family makes women vulnerable to gender-based domestic violence, like IPV.
Does Female Authority Prevent Male Marital Violence? Evidence From Rural Bangladesh
Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 2018
While relative resource status between husband and wife is widely discussed in the explanation of male marital violence (MMV) behaviors, the influence of relative family authority between husband and wife on the violence has been generally overlooked in previous studies. An examination can provide a better understanding of the issue. This study examined how various levels of female authority within the family are associated with MMV against women in rural Bangladesh. The study adopted a cross-sectional design and included 342 married men randomly selected from five northwest villages. Negative binomial regression was performed to predict the frequency of self-reported MMV behaviors in a 1-year recall period which estimated the ratios comparing absolute male authority to egalitarian authority within the family. Of the sample, 37.4% were the egalitarian/fair female authority, 41.2% were the higher male authority, and 21.4% were absolute male authority families; 71.1% of the men reveal...
Heliyon, 2021
Background: In Bangladesh, intimate partner violence (IPV) is high among women faced by their husband. Regrettably, IPV is often justified by the women themselves, resulting in poor social and health outcomes among them. In this paper, we explored the factors that influence the approval of IPV among the women by their husband in Bangladesh. Method: The present used the data from the most recent Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) 2017-18. The BDHS 2017-18 followed a two-stage stratified random sampling techniques and the present analysis was carried out among a weighted sample of 20,127 women. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify the demographic and socioeconomic factors associated with the approval of IPV among the women. Results: Overall, one in five women (20.5%) approved at least one form of violence by their husband. In adjusted analysis, women who completed secondary education were 57% less likely [AOR ¼ 0.43, 95% CI: 0.34-0.54] to approve IPV compared to those who had no formal education. Similarly, women who belonged to Hinduism and other religious group were 42% less likely [AOR ¼ 0.58, 95% CI: 0.45-0.74] to approve IPV compared to those who practiced Islam. Moreover, women who were exposed to television, participated in the decision on household purchase and moving outside home had 14%, 19%, and 21% less chance for approving IPV by the husband for at least one reason (p < 0.05). Conclusion: This study highlighted that many women in Bangladesh approve violence by their husband which could be a major obstacle to the reduction of violence from society. Behavior change intervention should be implemented, particularly targeting the less-educated Muslim women to increase the awareness on IPV in Bangladesh.
International Health, 2021
Background We assessed the association between women's participation in household decision making and justification of wife beating among married women ages 15–49 y in Mali. Methods We employed a cross-sectional study design among 7893 women of reproductive age involving a two-stage sampling technique using version 6 of the Mali Demographic and Health Survey (MDHS) data, which was conducted in 2018. Results Approximately 37% participated in at least one household decision while 23.4% reported that they would not justify wife beating in any of the stated circumstances. Women who participated in at least one household decision had lower odds (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 0.834 [confidence interval {CI} 0.744 to 0.935]) of justifying wife beating. With respect to the covariates, we found that women 45–49 y of age had lower odds of justifying wife beating compared with those ages 15–19 y (AOR 0.569 [CI 0.424 to 0.764]). Women with higher education (AOR 0.419 [CI 0.265 to 0.662]) and th...
Women's Acceptance of Intimate Partner Violence within Marriage in Rural Bangladesh
Studies in Family Planning, 2008
Violence against women perpetrated by husbands and male partners occurs worldwide, and an increasing number of surveys indicate that it is widely condoned. This article presents findings from a 2002 survey conducted in six rural villages in Bangladesh suggesting that an extremely high proportion of women believe that husbands’ use of violence against their wives is acceptable. To investigate the reliability and the psychosocial underpinnings of these survey findings, we also examine data from 110 in‐depth interviews and 14 small group discussions. The results suggest that although most abused women in the study had resigned themselves to accept a certain level of violence, they did not condone it, and many abused women said that perpetrators of violence should be punished, and in some cases the punishments they suggested were harsh. We conclude by raising questions regarding the meaning of responses to commonly used questions intended to measure women's attitudes toward intimate...