Development and Application of Individual and National Opportunity to the Experience of Intimate Partner Violence among Married Women in the Global South

Abstract

Objectives: Building on the ecological model, multicontextual opportunity theory, and southern criminology, the study developed individual- and country-level indicators of opportunity to understand the experience of intimate partner violence (IPV) among married women in the Global South. Opportunity-related indicators considered the impact of globalization and variability across nations categorized as part of the Global South. Methods: Relying on data from the Demographic and Health Surveys and open-source country indicators, mixed effects logistic regression examined opportunity-related indicators on a sample of married women ( N = 239,554) from the Global South ( N = 41). Results: Exposure to motivated offenders was associated with higher odds of IPV. Individual-level vulnerability was associated with higher odds of IPV. Isolation and interviews that were interrupted, indicators of guardianship, were associated with higher odds of IPV while the number of people in the household was associated with lower odds. More Parliamentary seats held by women was associated with higher odds of IPV. Nine cross-level interactions were significant. Conclusions: National-level factors moderated the influence of individual-level opportunity, reinforcing the Global South is not monolithic. The traveling of IPV programing from the Global North to the Global South is likely ineffective. Programs must consider how context shapes individual experiences.

Intimate Partner Violence and Age at Marriage in Mali: The Moderating Influence of Polygynous Unions

“…In addition, supportive attitudes toward IPV and if the respondent's husband drank alcohol increased the likelihood of experiencing all three types of IPV. Again, the generalizability of these findings across multiple nations (Barrett et al, 2012;Hayes, 2022;Mugoya et al, 2015;Rani et al, 2004;Seidu et al, 2022;Wheeler et al, 2020) provides direction for the development of IPV prevention and intervention programming.…”

“…Consistent with prior research on the intergenerational transmission of violence (Bensley et al, 2003; Coker et al, 2000), the experience of violence in one's family of origin and witnessing family violence increased the likelihood of experiencing all three types of IPV. This adds to the growing body of work that indicates the intergenerational transmission of violence may generalize outside a western or Global North context (Hayes, 2022; Hindin et al, 2008; Speizer, 2010; Wheeler et al, 2020). In addition, supportive attitudes toward IPV and if the respondent's husband drank alcohol increased the likelihood of experiencing all three types of IPV.…”

“…Later age at marriage, on the other hand, has been found to be associated with a reduced likelihood of reporting IPV in the Congo (Tlapek, 2015). Additionally, a cross-national study of developing countries found an association between women's early ages at marriage and increased prevalence of IPV (Hayes & Protas, 2022). Other cross-national country-specific analyses have reached similar conclusions (Kidman, 2017).…”

Reproductive Coercion Among College Students: An Extension and Test of Routine Activity Theory

“…Studies employing routine activity theory often include measures that explain one's victimization as a product of their exposure to crime, proximity to motivated offenders, target attractiveness, or lack of capable guardianship (e.g., Franklin et al, 2012; Mustaine & Tewksbury, 2002). Extant scholarship has demonstrated that routine activities are associated with both IPV (Hayes, 2018; 2022) and forms of sexual violence, including nonconsensual sexual contact (Fisher et al, 2010; Franklin et al, 2012; Hayes et al, 2021; Mustaine & Tewksbury, 2002; Schwartz et al, 2001; Schwartz & Pitts, 1995), sexual harassment (Clodfelter et al, 2010; De Coster et al, 1999), and online sexual victimization (Holt et al, 2016). Many prevention efforts on college campus center on aspects of routine activity theory—bystander intervention programs (i.e., presence of a guardian), efforts to reduce binge drinking (i.e., augment target suitability), or challenging norms around fraternities (i.e., recognizing offender motivation is tied to group norms).…”

“…Second, despite the growth of studies applying criminological theories to better understand sexual violence and IPV risk as a consequence of one's routine activities (e.g., Chopin et al, 2022; Fisher et al, 2010; Hayes, 2022; Krishnakumar & Verma, 2021; Reyns & Scherer, 2019), it remains unclear how such routines may affect risk of reproductive coercion, which sits at the nexus of IPV and sexual violence. These gaps within the reproductive coercion literature are not substantively insignificant.…”