Women’s Employment Status, Coercive Control, and Intimate Partner Violence in Mexico

Abstract

Findings from previous studies examining the relation between women’s employment and the risk of intimate partner violence have been mixed. Some studies find greater violence toward women who are employed, whereas others find the opposite relation or no relation at all. I propose a new framework in which a woman’s employment status and her risk of violent victimization are both influenced by the level of control exercised by her partner. Controlling men will actively prevent women from working and are also more likely to physically harm their partners. Using a statistical model in which the effect of omitted characteristics on women’s employment and their risk of violence are allowed to be correlated reverses the estimated association between employment and violence. The final results show that employment reduces women’s risk of violence. Data for the study are drawn from a sample of over 30,000 Mexican women in intimate relationships. The findings have broad implications given the increase in female labor force participation in many parts of the world.

Employment Status and Intimate Partner Violence Among Mexican Women

“…Research conducted in Western countries has provided a wealth of information about prevalence of IPV in developed countries, as well as risk factors predictive of violence against women (Holtzworth-Munroe, Bates, Smutzler, & Sandin, 1997;Johnson & Ferraro, 2000;Straus & Gelles, 1986Tjaden & Thoennes, 2000a, 2000bVillarreal, 2007). However, differences exist regarding the prevalence and risk factors for partner violence in developing countries.…”

“…Marital dependence theory suggests that employed women are less dependent on their husbands, and thus, less likely to tolerate abuse (Villarreal, 2007). Research conducted by Kalmuss and Straus (1990) found that women without viable alternative to marriages tend to be more tolerant of abuse, including physical abuse.…”

“…Research conducted by Kalmuss and Straus (1990) found that women without viable alternative to marriages tend to be more tolerant of abuse, including physical abuse. Resource theory and the modified relative resource theory propose that violence is a means to balance power within a relationship (Villarreal, 2007). Proponents of this theory suggest that imbalanced access to resources relative to those of the other spouse may trigger the use of violence as a means to restore power superiority within a relationship (Atkinson, Greenstein, & Lang, 2005;Villarreal, 2007).…”

“…Resource theory and the modified relative resource theory propose that violence is a means to balance power within a relationship (Villarreal, 2007). Proponents of this theory suggest that imbalanced access to resources relative to those of the other spouse may trigger the use of violence as a means to restore power superiority within a relationship (Atkinson, Greenstein, & Lang, 2005;Villarreal, 2007). For example, research by McCloskey (1996) found that women with significantly higher incomes are at higher risk of abuse by their partners, and Macmillan and Gartner (1999) found that employed wives are more likely to be abused by unemployed husbands.…”

Ethnic heterogamy and the risk of partner violence in Mexico

“…Some studies find that indigenous women are at lower risk of experiencing partner violence than nonindigenous women (Villarreal 2007). Other studies, though, report relatively high rates of victimization (González Montes and Valdés 2008).…”