Women’s Household Decision-Making and Intimate Partner Violence in Ethiopia

Abstract

Women’s household decision-making, a reflection of interpersonal power dynamics in intimate relationships is assumed to play a central role in eliminating violence against women. Thus we sought to examine the association between women’s household decision-making autonomy and the occurrence of intimate partner violence (IPV) among Ethiopian women. We used data gathered in the 2016 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS-2016). We limited our study to ever-married women (aged: 15 - 49 years) who responded to the domestic violence questions (n = 4,469). Sampling weights were applied and effects associated with complex survey design were accounted for. Overall, 24%, 23.1%, and 10.1% of women have experienced emotional abuse, physical violence, or sexual violence, respectively in their lifetimes. The relationship between demographic variables and IPV were inconsistent and mostly non-significant. We found significant association between decision-making autonomy and IPV variables. Women who made decisions jointly with their husbands/partners had lower risk of domestic violence as compared to women with low level of household decision-making autonomy. No significant difference between women in the low and high level of decision-making groups. Egalitarian family power structures may be beneficial toward reducing IPV and achieving gender equality in Ethiopia.

Women’s autonomy in refusing risky sex and associated factors in Ethiopia: evidence from 2011 to 2016 EDHS data

“…(3) Concerning the wealth index, the middle was taken as it is but the categories poorest and poor, and rich and richest were merged into poor and rich respectively. Similarly, other studies [28][29][30][31] have used these variables to measure the wealth index.…”

Sharing Responsibility through Joint Decision Making and Implications for Intimate-Partner Violence: Evidence from 12 Sub-Saharan African Countries

“…Friedemann-Sánchez and Lovatón (2012) likewise find similar results using the Colombia DHS, as do Svec and Andic (2018) using the Peru DHS. Using the Ethiopia DHS, Ebrahim and Atteraya (2019) find that no decision making by the woman and sole decision making by the woman are similarly linked to IPV, but that women who made decisions jointly with their spouses had lower risk of domestic violence. Finally, Zegenhagen et al (2019) find that women's reporting of decision making did not predict their experience of IPV, whereas men's reporting on decision making over major household purchases and expenditure of husband's earnings predicted the likelihood of women experiencing IPV.…”

“…This is distinct from bargaining power since what is emphasized is the jointness of the process and whether it is perceived in the same way by both parties. Joint decision making has been found to correlate negatively with IPV in several country studies, including Ebrahim and Atteraya (2019), Friedemann-Sánchez and Lovatón (2012), Gage (2005), Hindin and Adair (2002) and Svec and Andic (2018). This literature primarily focuses on the wife's perception of the process of decision making and how egalitarian she thinks this process is.…”

The Trend of Women’s Autonomy in Refusing Risky Sex and Associated Factors in Ethiopia: Evidence From 2011 & 2016 EDHS Data

“…(3) Concerning the wealth index, the middle was taken as it is but the categories poorest and poor, and rich and richest were merged into poor and rich respectively. Other studies (15)(16)(17)(18) have also used these variables to measure the wealth index.…”