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Efforts Against Partner Violence Having an Effect
By Kathleen Struck
April 26, 2013
As anti-abuse messages have spread globally in the past decade, more women worldwide said they found intimate partner violence objectionable, a study reported.
In a cross-sectional analysis of surveys conducted in 26 countries, a larger percentage of women said they found domestic violence unacceptable than was the case 5 years earlier, said Rachael Pierotti of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Overall, percentages ranged from 17.84% in Ethiopia to 95.54% in the Dominican Republic.
The largest percentage-point increases in the proportion of women who rejected the use of intimate partner violence in five hypothetical situations were seen in Zambia (an increase of 16.43 percentage points), Kenya (up 15.99 points), Rwanda (14.77 points), Nigeria (14.29 points), and Armenia (up 14.29 points), the author reported in the April issue of American Sociological Review.
"Nearly a 20-percentage point change within only 5 years is evidence of a very rapid shift in attitudes," Pierotti said in a release. "This trend is the same among ever- and never-married women. In countries for which data are available, men's attitudinal trends follow the same patterns."
In addition to those five countries, several others also saw significant double-digit percentage-point gains:
Benin (13)
Mali (12.75)
Cambodia (12.22)
Egypt (11.04)
Ghana (11.02)
Philippines (10.22)
Haiti (10.81)
The smallest percentage-point increases were seen in India (1.6 points), Bolivia (3.13 points) and Ethiopia (3.92 points).
Data for the survey of the low- and middle-income countries came from 52 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) datasets, including two from each of the 26 countries. The datasets came from nationally representative, repeated, cross-sectional surveys. The data were collected in two waves 5 years apart, with the exception of 3 years' separation in Egypt and 7 years in India.
The outcome variables come from a question -- Is it okay for a man to hit or beat his wife under certain circumstances? -- followed by five hypothetical circumstances: if she goes out without telling him, if she neglects the children, if she argues with him, if she refuses sex with him, and, if she burns the food.
Women who lived in urban areas, who were educated, who had access to media, and who had never married were more likely to say no, Pierotti found.
"Women with greater access to global cultural scripts through urban living, education, or access to media were more likely to reject intimate partner violence," she wrote, defining "cultural scripts" as messaging that defines appropriate behavior for individuals, organizations, and countries based on fundamental principles of global society.
"The changes in attitudes about intimate partner violence occurred too rapidly to be explained by structural socioeconomic or demographic shifts, both of which are expected to occur over generations," she said.
Men were more likely than women to reject domestic violence in 11 of the 15 countries where data for men were available -- Benin, Ethiopia, Ghana, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
Pierotti said the next step is to study individual-level data. The study was limited because the data did not look at cross-national differences in levels of acceptance of domestic violence. More data are needed to study trends that include high-income countries, she said.
"Global cultural models matter not only because they influence elites worldwide, but also because of their potential to influence millions of individuals in less privileged social locations," Pierotti said.
Primary source: American Sociological Review
Source reference:
Pierotti R "Increasing rejection of intimate partner violence: Evidence of global cultural diffusion" ASR 2013; 78(2) 240-265.
By Kathleen Struck
April 26, 2013
As anti-abuse messages have spread globally in the past decade, more women worldwide said they found intimate partner violence objectionable, a study reported.
In a cross-sectional analysis of surveys conducted in 26 countries, a larger percentage of women said they found domestic violence unacceptable than was the case 5 years earlier, said Rachael Pierotti of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Overall, percentages ranged from 17.84% in Ethiopia to 95.54% in the Dominican Republic.
The largest percentage-point increases in the proportion of women who rejected the use of intimate partner violence in five hypothetical situations were seen in Zambia (an increase of 16.43 percentage points), Kenya (up 15.99 points), Rwanda (14.77 points), Nigeria (14.29 points), and Armenia (up 14.29 points), the author reported in the April issue of American Sociological Review.
"Nearly a 20-percentage point change within only 5 years is evidence of a very rapid shift in attitudes," Pierotti said in a release. "This trend is the same among ever- and never-married women. In countries for which data are available, men's attitudinal trends follow the same patterns."
In addition to those five countries, several others also saw significant double-digit percentage-point gains:
Benin (13)
Mali (12.75)
Cambodia (12.22)
Egypt (11.04)
Ghana (11.02)
Philippines (10.22)
Haiti (10.81)
The smallest percentage-point increases were seen in India (1.6 points), Bolivia (3.13 points) and Ethiopia (3.92 points).
Data for the survey of the low- and middle-income countries came from 52 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) datasets, including two from each of the 26 countries. The datasets came from nationally representative, repeated, cross-sectional surveys. The data were collected in two waves 5 years apart, with the exception of 3 years' separation in Egypt and 7 years in India.
The outcome variables come from a question -- Is it okay for a man to hit or beat his wife under certain circumstances? -- followed by five hypothetical circumstances: if she goes out without telling him, if she neglects the children, if she argues with him, if she refuses sex with him, and, if she burns the food.
Women who lived in urban areas, who were educated, who had access to media, and who had never married were more likely to say no, Pierotti found.
"Women with greater access to global cultural scripts through urban living, education, or access to media were more likely to reject intimate partner violence," she wrote, defining "cultural scripts" as messaging that defines appropriate behavior for individuals, organizations, and countries based on fundamental principles of global society.
"The changes in attitudes about intimate partner violence occurred too rapidly to be explained by structural socioeconomic or demographic shifts, both of which are expected to occur over generations," she said.
Men were more likely than women to reject domestic violence in 11 of the 15 countries where data for men were available -- Benin, Ethiopia, Ghana, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
Pierotti said the next step is to study individual-level data. The study was limited because the data did not look at cross-national differences in levels of acceptance of domestic violence. More data are needed to study trends that include high-income countries, she said.
"Global cultural models matter not only because they influence elites worldwide, but also because of their potential to influence millions of individuals in less privileged social locations," Pierotti said.
Primary source: American Sociological Review
Source reference:
Pierotti R "Increasing rejection of intimate partner violence: Evidence of global cultural diffusion" ASR 2013; 78(2) 240-265.
