Attitudes of Pakistani men to domestic violence: a study from Karachi, Pakistan

Abstract

Aim: To explore men's attitudes on wife abuse and examine predictors for the risk of physical abuse in a cohort of Pakistani men. Methods: Men were identified based on convenience sampling from three socioeconomic venues. A total of 176 men (18 years) who were married for at least 1 year and lived with their wives during the preceding year were interviewed. Information on demographics, behaviours, and attitudes to wife abuse (verbal and physical) were elicited. Results: The lifetime prevalence of marital physical abuse was 49.4%; slapping, hitting or punching was most often reported (47.7%). Of the men 55% were themselves victims of physical violence during childhood and 65% had, as children, observed their mother being beaten. Almost half of the subjects thought that husbands have a right to hit their wives (46.0%). Significant predictors in the logistic regression analysis included low socioeconomic status (OR 2.6; 95% CI 1.1, 6.1), marriage duration of 5 years (OR 3.0; 95% CI 1.3,6.9), beaten as a child (OR 4.5; 95% CI 2.1,9.6) and witnessed mother beaten as a child (OR 2.7; 95% CI 1.2,6.0). Study limitations, convenience sampling and small sample size, should be viewed in the context of the rarity of South Asian wife abuse studies. Conclusions: The burden of wife abuse in Pakistani society, the inter-generational cycle of violence perpetuation, men's right to physically abuse their wives, in concert with their felt need of some type of help suggest that interventions should consider preventing child abuse in addition to adopting strategies to prevent spousal abuse.

Development, Validity, and Reliability Analyses of Beliefs about Relationship Violence against Women Scale and Gender Stereotypes and Beliefs in Nigeria

“…Although a recent systematic review of 134 prevalence studies worldwide on domestic violence against women suggests that most studies were conducted in North America (40.5%), followed by Europe (19.6%) (Alhabib et al, 2010) women are generally believed to be vulnerable to partner violence in many developing societies, even as tolerance for gender-based violence transcends gender differences (Fikree et al, 2005;Oyediran and Isiugo-Abanihe, 2005;Antai and Antai, 2008). They bear the major brunt of partner violence in many patriarchal societies, where gender-based violence remains culturally tolerated, continues to be perceived as a family matter, and thrives by the mere fact that women are economically dependent on men, physically incapable of confronting their abusers, and are subject to a criminal justice system that is ill equipped to protect them from abuse and abusers.…”

Partnership with Men for Elimination of Violence against Women

“…Erkeklerin %55'i kendilerinin de çocukken şiddete maruz kaldığını, %65'i de çocukken annelerinin şiddet görüşünü izlediklerini belirtmiş-tir. [25] Sosyal olarak erkekliğin algılanması erkeklerin "toplum" ve "kültür" tarafından pasif yetiştirilmemesini şekillendirmektedir. Kadınlar ve erkekler cinsiyet kalıplarının oluşmasında ve bu kalıplar çerçevesinde hareket edilmesinde aktif rol oynamaktadırlar.…”

“…[25] Kişisel, toplumsal ve hukuksal dü-zeyde çalışma konusunda erkekleri organize etmek ve bu alanda çalışan erkek sayısını artırmak için bu örnekler önemlidir.…”

“…[25] Toplumsal cinsiyet eşitliğini ve adaleti sağlamak için erkeklerle işbirliği içe-risinde çalışmaya acil ihtiyaç vardır. Kadına yönelik şiddetin sürdürülmesinde erkeklerin çoğunun sorumlu olması gerçeğine rağmen, kendi çıkarlarını korumak için şiddet kullanmayan erkeklerin de olduğu unutulmamalıdır.…”

“…Tüm dinlerin kadına yönelik şiddete karşı çıktığı vurgusunun din adamları tarafından yapılması gerekmektedir. [4,25] Erkeklerin aile içinde ekonomik sorumluluğun büyük bir kısmını üstlen-mesi de aile içi şiddet konusunda sorun olabilir. [8] Kadınların güçlendirilmesi ve özgürlüğü şiddetle mücadelenin büyük bir parçasıdır ve bunun için kadın-lara yönelik daha büyük ekonomik fırsatlar gerekmektedir.…”