Back to browse results
The Threat of Domestic Violence and Women Empowerment: The Case of West Africa
Authors: Saikou Amadou Diallo, and Marcel Voia
Source: African Development Review, 28(1): 92–103; DOI: 10.1111/1467-8268.12169
Topic(s): Domestic violence
Women’s empowerment
Country: Africa
  Multiple African Countries
Published: MAR 2016
Abstract: This paper assesses the significance of a set of threats of domestic violence in ten West African countries that arguably limit the potential of women in particular and the development of society. The data consists of a country-specific Demographic and Health Survey (DHS), conducted in the same way for each participating country. The risk of domestic violence and the intensity of its threat are assessed using different probabilistic model specifications together with an assessment of how heterogeneous/homogenous are these effects across the set of countries. The overall results suggest that religion has played a significant role in relation to domestic violence in most countries. Area of residence (rural) has played an important positive role as well. The lack of education increases the threat, and level of well-being and/or household's level of wealth have a significant negative impact on the threat of domestic violence in general. Finally, the factor that defines the improvement in wife's social status which is characterized by the wife's higher level of education has also been important in reducing the threat of domestic violence.
Web: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-8268.12169/full