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Women’s Decision-Making Autonomy and Their Attitude towards Wife-Beating: Findings from the 2011 Ethiopia’s Demographic and Health Survey
Authors: Nasser B. Ebrahim, Madhu S. Atteraya, Nasser B. Ebrahim, and Madhu S. Atteraya
Source: Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health , Published first Online:28 April 2017, pp. 1-9; DOI: 10.1007/s10903-017-0592-6
Topic(s): Domestic violence
Women's autonomy
Country: Africa
  Ethiopia
Published: APR 2017
Abstract: The study examined the extent of wife-beating acceptance and factors that influence women’s attitude towards wife-beating in Ethiopia from a nationally representative sample of 11,658 participants in the 2011 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey. Multivariate logistic regressions were fitted to investigate the relationships between women’s attitude towards wife-beating and women’s decision-making autonomy after controlling for socio-demographic factors. The majority (56%) of women agreed that wife-beating is justified when wife neglects children, 53% when wife burns the food, 50% when wife argues with husband, 48% when wife goes out without telling husband, and nearly 45% when wife refuses to have sex with husband. Overall, 51% of women had shown highly favorable attitude towards wife-beating. Women’s place of residence, household wealth quintiles, educational levels, marital status, and husband/partner’s employment status have shown significant association with women’s attitude towards wife-beating. Women’s decision-making autonomy was also a significant predictor of women’s attitude towards wife-beating. The odds of having highly favorable attitude towards wife-beating deceased significantly as the level of decision-making autonomy of women improved. Given the widespread acceptance of wife-beating among Ethiopian women, social policies that empower women could serve as a positive force in changing attitudes towards wife-beating and violence against women. Keywords Ethiopia Women Wife-beating Attitudes Women’s autonomy