Percentage of all women and men age 15-49 who agree that a husband is justified in hitting or beating his wife for specific reasons:
1) Burning food.
2) Arguing with him.
3) Going out without telling him.
4) Neglecting the children.
5) Refusing to have sexual intercourse with him.
6) At least one reason.
Coverage:
Population base: All women (or men) age 15-49 (IR file, MR file)
Time period: Current status at time of survey
Numerators:
Number of women (or men) age 15-49 who agree that a husband is justified in hitting or beating his wife for:
1) Burning food (women: v744e = 1; men: mv744e = 1)
2) Arguing with him (women: v744c = 1; men: mv744c = 1)
3) Going out without telling him (women: v744a = 1; men: mv744a = 1)
4) Neglecting the children (women: v744b = 1; men: mv744b = 1)
5) Refusing to have sexual intercourse with him (women: v744d = 1; men: mv744d = 1)
6) At least one reason (women: any of v744a – e = 1; men: any of mv744a – e = 1)
Denominator: Number of women (or men) age 15-49
Variables: IR file, MR file.
|
v744a |
Beating justified if wife goes out without telling husband (women) |
|
v744b |
Beating justified if wife neglects the children (women) |
|
v744c |
Beating justified if wife argues with husband (women) |
|
v744d |
Beating justified if wife refuses to have sex with husband (women) |
|
v744e |
Beating justified if wife burns the food (women) |
|
v005 |
Women's sample weight |
|
mv744a |
Beating justified if wife goes out without telling husband (men) |
|
mv744b |
Beating justified if wife neglects the children (men) |
|
mv744c |
Beating justified if wife argues with husband (men) |
|
mv744d |
Beating justified if wife refuses to have sex with husband (men) |
|
mv744e |
Beating justified if wife burns the food (men) |
|
mv005 |
Men's sample weight |
Numerator divided by the denominator multiplied by 100.
Missing values on attitudes towards wife beating are excluded from the numerator but included in the denominator.
The list of reasons and/or wording of specified reasons justifying wife beating has varied over time. Some countries also add more reasons and some countries modify the wording of the standard reasons. In some surveys the questions are only asked to married women or men.
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Hanmer, L., and J. Klugman. 2016 "Exploring women's agency and empowerment in developing countries: Where do we stand?". Feminist Economics 22, no. 1: 237-263.
Jennings, L., M. Na, M. Cherewick, M. Hindin, B. Mullany, and S. Ahmed. 2014. "Women’s empowerment and male involvement in antenatal care: analyses of Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) in selected African countries." BMC pregnancy and childbirth 14, no. 1: 297.
Kishor, S., and L. Subaiya. 2008. Understanding Women’s Empowerment: A Comparative Analysis of Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Data. DHS Comparative Reports No. 20. Calverton, Maryland, USA: Macro International Inc. https://dhsprogram.com/publications/publication-cr20-comparative-reports.cfm
Upadhyay, U. D., J. D. Gipson, M. Withers, S. Lewis, E. J. Ciaraldi, A. Fraser, M. J. Huchko, and N. Prata. 2014. "Women's Empowerment and Fertility: A Review of the Literature." Social Science & Medicine 115: 111-120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.06.014.
Ewerling, F., F. C. Wehrmeister, C. G. Victora, A. Raj, L. McDougal, and A. J. Barros. 2021. "Is Women’s Empowerment Associated with Coverage of Rmnch Interventions in Low-and Middle-Income Countries? An Analysis Using a Survey-Based Empowerment Indicator, the Swper." Journal of Global Health 11. https://doi.org/10.7189/jogh.11.04015.
DHS-8 Tabulation plan: Tables 15.9.1 and 15.9.2
API Indicator IDs:
Women:
WE_AWBT_W_BFD, WE_AWBT_W_ARG, WE_AWBT_W_OUT, WE_AWBT_W_NEG, WE_AWBT_W_REF, WE_AWBT_W_AGR
Men:
WE_AWBT_M_BFD, WE_AWBT_M_ARG, WE_AWBT_M_OUT, WE_AWBT_M_NEG, WE_AWBT_M_REF, WE_AWBT_M_AGR
(API link, STATcompiler link)
MICS6 Indicator PR.15: Attitudes towards domestic violence