Why Do Women Justify Violence Against Wives More Often Than Do Men in Vietnam?

Abstract

Background Intimate partner violence (IPV) harms the health of women and their children. In Vietnam, 31% of women report lifetime exposure to physical IPV, and surprisingly, women justify physical IPV against wives more often than do men. Objective We compare men’s and women’s rates of finding good reason for wife hitting and assess whether differences in childhood experiences and resources and constraints in adulthood account for observed differences. Methods Probability samples of married men (N = 522) and women (N = 533) were surveyed in Vietnam. Ordered logit models assessed the proportional odds for women versus men of finding more “good reasons” to hit a wife (never, 1–3 situations, 4–6 situations). Results In all situations, women found good reason to hit a wife more often than did men. The unadjusted odds for women versus men of reporting more good reasons to hit a wife were 6.55 (95% CI 4.82 – 8.91). This gap disappeared in adjusted models that included significant interactions of gender with age, number of children ever born, and experience of physical IPV as an adult. Discussion Having children was associated with justifying wife hitting among women but not men. Exposure to IPV in adulthood was associated with justifying wife hitting among men but was negatively associated with justification of IPV among women. Further study of the gendered effects of resources and constraints in adulthood on attitudes about IPV against women will clarify women’s more frequent reporting than men’s that IPV against women is justified.

Attitudes towards Intimate Partner Violence against Women among Women and Men in 39 Low- and Middle-Income Countries

“…Women in the Asian and African countries were more likely to justify IPV than men when controlling for other demographic characteristics. Previous studies in Vietnam [34], an Asian country, and sub-Saharan Africa [20] also found that attitudes accepting of IPV against women were more prevalent among women than men. Those countries have the highest GII.…”

Attitudes towards domestic violence in 49 low- and middle-income countries: A gendered analysis of prevalence and country-level correlates

“…The widespread justification of DV by women in Africa and Asia, referred to by Caldwell as the ‘Patriarchal Belt’ [ 31 ] can be explained by Kandiyoti’s (1988) theory of ‘patriarchal bargaining’ [ 32 ]. According to Kandiyoti many women who live under classic patriarchy are pressured or motivated to conform to the norms of wife blaming in cases of violence as a strategy to mitigate DV [ 32 – 34 ]. Women often internalise the idea that a husband who physically punishes or verbally reprimands his wife has exercised a right that serves her interest.…”

“…Women often internalise the idea that a husband who physically punishes or verbally reprimands his wife has exercised a right that serves her interest. This ‘disciplining’ is seen as a legitimate reprisal for a wife’s disobedience rather than as ‘violence’ [ 33 , 34 ].…”

Economic Coercion and Partner Violence Against Wives in Vietnam

“…In this district, 37% of men reported perpetrating any physical, psychological, or sexual IPV against their current wife (Yount et al, forthcoming). Men more often than women were beaten as a child (72% vs. 50%), but one fourth of men (27%) and women (26%) witnessed as a child their mother being beaten (Krause, Gordon-Roberts, VanderEnde, Schuler, & Yount, forthcoming). …”