Defining Power and Agency in Gender Relations in El Salvador: Consequences for Intimate Partner Violence and Women’s Mental Health

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) affects thousands of women around the world and is prevalent in the Global South. Unequal social structures perpetuate hierarchies and maintain women’s vulnerability to violence. Difficulties women face in accessing education, economic resources, and employment diminish their power in intimate relationships, increasing the likelihood of IPV. These factors can also have a significant effect on women’s mental health. However, some studies show that economic empowerment does not necessarily translate into greater agency for women if they cannot use the resources they earn to pursue whatever goals or values they regard as important in life. Agency is women’s ability to identify their life goals and act upon them through critical evaluation (intrinsic agency) and autonomous decision-making (instrumental agency). In this article, we aim to analyze the relationship between women’s power (educational and economic) and agency and their influence on intimate partner violence and on women’s mental health in the context of El Salvador. Currently, El Salvador has one of the highest percentages of femicide worldwide. We used data from the first national survey on violence against women in El Salvador to determine empowerment indicators and investigated their influence on intimate partner violence and women’s mental health. Results from a representative sample of 1,274 women aged between 15 and 64 years old and, using a structural equation modeling revealed that education was a protective factor against IPV, but economic power appeared to put women at greater risk of IPV. Education was positively related to both intrinsic and instrumental agency, but only instrumental agency was negatively associated with the likelihood of being a victim of IPV. Finally, both intrinsic and instrumental agencies were positively related to women’s mental health. We discuss the importance of identifying specific factors related to women’s power and agency to prevent IPV and mental health problems and to promote more gender equity in the Global South.

Prevalence, Correlates, and Trends of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in Gambia: Results From 2 National Cross-Sectional Health Surveys

“…Previous studies from several African, Asian, and Latin American countries have reported various IPV correlates [1][2][3][4][5][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]24,26 ; in this secondary analysis 12 correlates at the level of individual respondent, husband/partner, and familial levels were studied in terms of association with respondent having ever experienced any form of intimate partner violence. These included women's' age, women's and her husband's/partner's educational attainment, women's occupation, household's wealth index, residential status (urban or rural), number of living children, decision making, IPV acceptance, husband's/partner's alcohol use, having ever witnessed one's father physically beating up one's mother, and marital control.…”

“…9,10 Plethora of IPV correlates have been reported using DHS and other data: these include gender-based power differentials with women experiencing limited empowerment and autonomy in terms of making or contributing to personal or household decisions, acceptance of IPV, low educational attainment by women or her partner, alcohol use by the partner, age of women, age of partner, and marital control displayed by the partner. 11-18…”

“…9,10 Plethora of IPV correlates have been reported using DHS and other data: these include genderbased power differentials with women experiencing limited empowerment and autonomy in terms of making or contributing to personal or household decisions, acceptance of IPV, low educational attainment by women or her partner, alcohol use by the partner, age of women, age of partner, and marital control displayed by the partner. [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] Hence, the mediating framework underpinning IPV perpetrated by men against women include women's economic dependence on their male intimate partner; physical power imbalance with resultant limited ability to defend and respond; household poverty leading to family disputes and threatening traditional male role as a provider; low educational attainment in both partners with no or limited understanding the effects of IPV on the victim and acceptance of such behavior, alcohol use by male partner with resultant low inhibitions to violence, intergenerational witnessing and acceptance of IPV; limited autonomy in terms of making household and personal decisions; number of children: more children impacting family's economic status, and infertility contributing to family and societal expectations to procreate; age of women: with older age accentuating economic dependence on male partner and younger age with limited ability to manage family affairs; and patriarchal societies dictating and perpetuating sociocultural norms reinforcing gender inequality, low empowerment and autonomy of women. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] Situated in the West Africa, the Republic of the Gambia is the smallest country in terms of land size in the mainland Africa.…”

Prevalence, correlates, and trends of intimate partner violence against women in Sierra Leone: findings from 2013 and 2019 demographic and health surveys

“…The lack of statistically significant association with the educational attainment of the respondent or her intimate partner was another unusual finding from this study. Several studies have reported an association of IPV with women’s low educational attainment and that of their partners ( 5 , 13 , 18 , 22 ); conversely, higher educational attainment was found to serve as a protective factor against IPV ( 5 , 19 , 21 , 23 , 26 ). Even parental educational attainment of less than high school has been associated with IPV ( 7 ).…”

Prevalence, correlates, and trends of intimate partner violence against women in Pakistan: Results from Pakistan Demographic and Health surveys 2012–13 and 2017–18

“…Broadly, the correlates associated with IPV tend to underscore low educational attainment by both partners, low socioeconomic status, use of alcohol by male partner, physical power differences, attitudinal acceptance of violence in the context of intimate relationships by women, rural residency status; all conspiring against the backdrop of deeply entrenched patriarchal cultures, traditional family values emphasizing harmony and ideological pressures to preserve marriages, force women to remain imprisoned in abusive relationships [3,4,14,[20][21][22][23].…”