Women’s Attitudes Toward Intimate Partner Violence in Ethiopia: The Role of Social Norms in the Interview Context

Abstract

This study draws on a social norms framework to examine the influence of interview context—specifically the presence of other women and men—on women’s reported attitudes toward intimate partner violence (IPV) in Ethiopia, where IPV rates are among the highest in the world. The sample (16,515 women, ages 15-49) was taken from Ethiopia’s 2011 Demographic and Health Survey. Results showed the odds of women “justifying” IPV to be nearly twice as great when other women were present during the interview, and nearly half in the presence of men. Implications for more sensitive interview methodology are discussed.

Keywords

attitudes Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS)intimate partner violence social norms

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Abeya

S. G.

Afework

M. F.

Yalew

A. W.

(2012). Intimate partner violence against women in western Ethiopia: Prevalence, patterns, and associated factors. BMC Public Health, 11, 913-930. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-11-913

Allen

Raghallaigh

M. N.

(2013). Domestic violence in a developing context: The perspectives of women in northern Ethiopia. Affilia, 28, 256-272.

Andersson

Cockcroft

Ansari

Omer

Chaudhry

U. U.

Khan

Pearson

(2009). Collecting reliable information about violence against women safely in household interviews: Experience from a large-scale national survey in South Asia. Violence Against Women, 15, 482-496. doi:10.1177/1077801208331063

Antai

(2009). Collective violence and attitudes of women toward intimate partner violence: Evidence from the Niger Delta. BMC International Health and Human Rights, 9(12), 1-10. doi:10.1186/1472-698X-9-12

Berkowitz

A. D.

(2010). Fostering healthy norms to prevent violence and abuse: The social norms approach. In Kaufman

K. L.

(Ed.), The prevention of sexual violence: A practitioner’s sourcebook (pp. 147-172). Fitchburg, MA: NEARI Press.

Beyer

Wallis

A. B.

Hamberger

L. K.

(2015). Neighborhood environment and intimate partner violence: A systematic review. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 16, 16-47. doi:10.1177/1524838013515758

Bonomi

A. E.

Thompson

R. S.

Anderson

Reid

R. J.

Carrell

Dimer

J. A.

Rivara

F. P.

(2006). Intimate partner violence and women’s physical, mental, and social functioning. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 30, 458-466. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2006.01.015

Boyle

M. H.

Georgiades

Cullen

Racine

(2009). Community influences on intimate partner violence in India: Women’s education, attitudes towards mistreatment and standards of living. Social Science & Medicine, 69, 691-697. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.06.039

Campbell

J. C.

(2002). Health consequences of intimate partner violence. Lancet, 359, 1331-1336.

10.

Ellsberg

Heise

(2002). Bearing witness: Ethics in domestic violence research. Lancet, 359, 1599-1604.

11.

Ellsberg

Heise

Pena

Agurto

Winkvist

(2001). Researching domestic violence against women: Methodological and ethical considerations. Studies in Family Planning, 32, 1-16.

12.

Faramarzi

Esmailzadeh

Mosavi

(2005). A comparison of abused and non-abused women’s definitions of domestic violence and attitudes to acceptance of male dominance. European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, 122, 225-231.

13.

Flood

Pease

(2009). Factors influencing attitudes to violence against women. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 10, 125-142.

14.

Garcia-Moreno

Jansen

H. A.

Ellsberg

Heise

Watts

C. H.

(2006). Prevalence of intimate partner violence: Findings from the WHO multi-country study on women’s health and domestic violence. Lancet, 368, 1260-1269.

15.

Gossaye

Deyessa

Berhane

Ellsberg

Emmelin

Ashenafi

Hogberg

(2003). Women’s health and life events study in rural Ethiopia. Ethiopian Journal of Health Development, 17, 1-49.

16.

ICF International. (2012a). Atlas of gender and health indicators: Data from the 2011 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey. Calverton, MD: Author. Retrieved from http://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/ATR12/ATR12.pdf

17.

ICF International. (2012b). Demographic and Health Survey interviewer’s manual (MEASURE DHS Basic Documentation No. 2). Calverton, MD: Author. Retrieved from http://www.dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/DHSM1/DHS6_Interviewer_Manual_19Oct2012_DHSM1.pdf

18.

ICF International. (2012c). The DHS program STATcompiler (Version: 1.5.2) [Build: 2014-02-03 14:51]. Available from http://www.statcompiler.com/

19.

ICF Macro. (2011). Demographic and Health Survey supervisor’s and editor’s manual (MEASURE DHS Basic Documentation No. 4). Calverton, MD: Author. Retrieved from http://www.dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/DHSM2/DHS6_Supervisor_Editor_Manual_30Mar2011.pdf

20.

Jewkes

(2002). Intimate partner violence: Causes and prevention. Lancet, 359, 1423-1429.

21.

Kim

Motsei

(2002). “Women enjoy punishment”: Attitudes and experiences of gender-based violence among PHC nurses in rural South Africa. Social Science & Medicine, 54, 1243-1254.

22.

Kishor

Johnson

(2004). Profiling domestic violence: A multi-country study. Calverton, MD: ORC Macro. Retrieved from http://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/od31/od31.pdf

23.

Kishor

Lekha

(2008). Understanding women’s empowerment: A comparative analysis of demographic and health surveys (DHS) data (DHS Comparative Reports No. 20). Calverton, MD: Macro International. Retrieved from http://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/CR20/CR20.pdf

24.

Lawoko

(2006). Factors associated with attitudes toward intimate partner violence: A study of women in Zambia. Violence and Victims, 21, 645-656. doi:10.1891/0886-6708.21.5.645

25.

Linos

Kawachi

(2012). Community social norms as social determinants of violence against women. American Journal of Public Health, 102, 199-200. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2011.300410

26.

Linos

Khawaja

Al-Nsour

(2010). Women’s autonomy and support for wife beating: Findings from a population-based survey in Jordan. Violence and Victims, 25, 409-419. doi:10.1891/0886-6708.25.3.409

27.

Linos

Khawaja

Kaplan

R. L.

(2012). Women’s acceptance of spousal abuse in Iraq: Prevalence rates and the role of female empowerment characteristics. Journal of Family Violence, 27, 625-633. doi:10.1007/s10896-012-9462-0

28.

Linos

Slopen

Subramanian

S. V.

Berkman

Kawachi

(2013). Influence of community social norms on spousal violence: A population-based multilevel study of Nigerian women. American Journal of Public Health, 103, 148-155. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2012.300829

29.

Mrkić

Johnson

Rose

(Eds.). (2010). The world’s women 2010: Trends and statistics. New York: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Retrieved from http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/Worldswomen/WW_full%20report_color.pdf

30.

Paluck

E. L.

Ball

(2010). Social norms marketing aimed at gender based violence: A literature review and critical assessment. New York: International Rescue Committee.

31.

Rabel

B. V.

Cunningham

S. A.

Stephenson

(2014). Interview interruption and responses to questions about domestic violence in India. Violence Against Women, 20, 937-947. doi:10.1177/1077801214546905

32.

Rani

Bonu

Diop-Sidibe

(2004). An empirical investigation of attitudes towards wife-beating among men and women in seven sub-Saharan African countries. African Journal of Reproductive Health, 8, 116-136.

33.

Rutstein

S. O.

Johnson

(2004). The DHS Wealth Index (DHS Comparative Reports No. 6). Calverton, MD: ORC Macro. Retrieved from http://www.dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/CR6/CR6.pdf

34.

Rutstein

S. O.

Rojas

(2006). Guide to DHS statistics. Calverton, MD: ORC Macro. Retrieved from http://www.dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/DHSG1/Guide_to_DHS_Statistics_29Oct2012_DHSG1.pdf

35.

Schatz

Williams

(2011, March). Understanding women’s status, empowerment and autonomy in sub-Saharan Africa: The need to contextualize and validate DHS gender analyses with supplemental qualitative data. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America, Washington, DC.

36.

Schatz

Williams

(2012). Measuring gender and reproductive health in Africa using demographic and health surveys: The need for mixed-methods research. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 14, 811-826. doi:10.1080/13691058.2012.698309

37.

Schuler

S. R.

Islam

(2008). Women’s acceptance of intimate partner violence within marriage in rural Bangladesh. Studies in Family Planning, 39, 49-58. doi:10.1111/j.1728-4465.2008.00150.x

38.

Schuler

S. R.

Lenzi

Yount

K. M.

(2011). Justification of intimate partner violence in rural Bangladesh: What survey questions fail to capture. Studies in Family Planning, 42, 21-28. doi:10.1111/j.1728-4465.2011.00261.x

39.

Schuler

S. R.

Yount

K. M.

Lenzi

(2012). Justification of wife beating in rural Bangladesh: A qualitative analysis of gender differences in responses to survey questions. Violence Against Women, 18, 1177-1191. doi:10.1177/1077801212465152

40.

Snell-Rood

(2015). Informal support for women and intimate partner violence: The crucial yet ambivalent role of neighbours in urban India. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 17, 63-77. doi:10.1080/13691058.2014.950333

41.

Uthman

O. A.

Lawoko

Moradi

(2009). Factors associated with attitudes towards intimate partner violence against women: A comparative analysis of 17 sub-Saharan countries. BMC International Health and Human Rights, 9(14), 1-15. doi:10.1186/1472-698X-9-14

42.

Uthman

O. A.

Lawoko

Moradi

(2010). Sex disparities in attitudes towards intimate partner violence against women in sub-Saharan Africa: A socio-ecological analysis. BMC Public Health, 10(223), 1-8. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-10-223

43.

Uthman

O. A.

Moradi

Lawoko

(2009). The independent contribution of individual-, neighbourhood-, and country-level socioeconomic position on attitudes towards intimate partner violence against women in sub-Saharan Africa: A multilevel model of direct and moderating effects. Social Science & Medicine, 68, 1801-1809. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.02.045

44.

VanderEnde

K. E.

Yount

K. M.

Dynes

M. M.

Sibley

L. M.

(2012). Community-level correlates of intimate partner violence against women globally: A systematic review. Social Science & Medicine, 75, 1143-1155. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.05.027

45.

Waltermaurer

(2012). Public justification of intimate partner violence: A review of the literature. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 13, 167-175. doi:10.1177/1524838012447699

46.

Wolf

Gray

Fazel

(2014). Violence as a public health problem: An ecological study of 169 countries. Social Science & Medicine, 104, 220-227. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.12.006

47.

Yigzaw

Berhane

Deyessa

Kaba

(2010). Perceptions and attitude towards violence against women by their spouses: A qualitative study in Northwest Ethiopia. Ethiopian Journal of Health Development, 24, 39-45.

48.

Yoshioka

M. R.

DiNoia

Ullah

(2001). Attitudes toward marital violence: An examination of four Asian communities. Violence Against Women, 7, 900-926. doi:10.1177/10778010122182820

49.

Yount

K. M.

Halim

Hynes

Hillman

E. R.

(2011). Response effects to attitudinal questions about domestic violence against women: A comparative perspective. Social Science Research, 40, 873-884. doi:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2010.12.009

50.

Yount

K. M.

Halim

Schuler

S. R.

Head

(2013). A survey experiment of women’s attitudes about intimate partner violence against women in rural Bangladesh. Demography, 50, 333-357. doi:10.1007/S13524-012-0143-7

51.

Yount

K. M.

(2009). Women’s “justification” of domestic violence in Egypt. Journal of Marriage and Family, 71, 1125-1140. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2009.00659.x