Women’s attitude and reasons toward justifying domestic violence in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

BackgroundDomestic violence (DV) is a global public problem that touches all levels of society and socio-economic status. Identifying women's attitudes towards domestic violence is an important first step in the prevention and control of its consequence. Thus, this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed: (i) to synthesize women's reasons for justifying domestic violence and (ii) to determine the pooled prevalence of women's attitude towards domestic violence in Ethiopia.MethodsPub-Med and google scholar data bases searched for quantitative cross-sectional studies. The study quality was assessed with the Newcastle-Ottawa quality assessment tool. Heterogeneity test and evidence of publication bias were assessed. Pooled prevalence of women's attitude was calculated with 95%CI using random effects model.ResultsA total of 15 articles were included in the study. The pooled prevalence of women's attitude towards justifying domestic violence was found to be 57% (95% CI; 47.0%-67.2%). Reasons for justifying were: burning food, argues with husband, goes out without telling, neglects children, refuses sex, unfaithful, disobeys and suspects infidelity.ConclusionMore than half of women accept domestic violence. Authors' suggest strengthening of women's awareness toward norms that justify wife beating.

Gender System Justification, Gender Differences and Attitudes Towards Women’ Victimization

“…Psychological/emotional aggression involves the act of intimidating, controlling, remaining silent, insulting or humiliating a woman in order to weaken her psychologically. Sexual assault reveals the use of force or intimidation to coerce a woman into having sex without her consent [2,7,19]. The prevalence rates of gender-related victimization are high across continents and countries [14,19].…”

“…Sexual assault reveals the use of force or intimidation to coerce a woman into having sex without her consent [2,7,19]. The prevalence rates of gender-related victimization are high across continents and countries [14,19]. In Cameroon, for example, the survey carried out by the Cameroon Association of Women Lawyers reports that since 1998, in the Center region, out of 100 married women, 88 say they are victims of domestic violence [3].…”

“…These prevalence rates are of concern, since the experience of victimization generates various psychosocial problems such as depression and loneliness [20]. According to recent literature, women are, themselves, actively participating in their victimization because of their positive attitude towards societal norms that legitimize these practices [19]. In Jordan, for example, shared cultural values and norms help to legitimize the victimization perpetrated against children and women.…”

Urban-rural disparities in wife-beating attitude among married women: a decomposition analysis from the 2017 Senegal Continuous Demographic and Health Survey

“…The perception that IPV is supported and culturally normative are amongst the utmost major factors related with the possibility of enactment and social replies to perpetration [ 12 – 15 ]. Women who consider that wife beating is acceptable and normative are likely to allow themselves to be violated, and to develop lifelong psychological problems, and most commonly keep it a secret instead of reporting to legal bodies and their families or close friends [ 16 ]. More than the criminal or victim, the societal attitude towards wife beating could highly govern the reply and correction of the behavior.…”

“…In societies where IPV is culturally accepted and normative, supporting victims and the response to wife beating behavior by the community members is highly unlikely [ 17 , 18 ]. A woman who considers such violence as not acceptable is likely to be aware of her greater sense of worth, self-esteem, status, and to reflect positively on her sense of empowerment [ 16 – 19 ]. On the other hand, a woman who considers such violent behavior as ‘justifiable’, accepts the right of her husband to control her behavior even by means of violence [ 10 , 20 ].…”