Women’s Work, Gender Roles, and Intimate Partner Violence in Nigeria

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the contribution of women's labor force participation to the risk of intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization in the past 12 months, using data for 20,635 currently married women aged 15-49 years from the 2013 nationally representative Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey. Multilevel logistic regression models of sexual and physical IPV, with interactions between women's work and social norms regarding traditional gender roles, were developed. Approximately 23% of women aged 15-49 years reported IPV victimization in the past 12 months. Results revealed that non-cash work relative to unemployment was positively associated with both forms of IPV victimization, after controlling for other factors. Women's engagement in cash work was positively correlated with sexual IPV. The positive association between cash work and physical IPV victimization was significantly larger for women who resided in localities with greater male approval of wife beating. In localities where husband-dominated decision making was more common, a spousal education gap that favored husbands was more positively associated with sexual IPV. The findings call for integrated IPV prevention and economic empowerment programs that consider gender norms and gender-role beliefs and are adapted to the locality setting, in order to promote social environments in which women can reap the full benefits of their economic empowerment.

Drought and intimate partner violence towards women in 19 countries in sub-Saharan Africa during 2011-2018: A population-based study

“…These 2 findings may be linked, as younger women are less likely to be economically independent from their partners. In contrast with our findings and other literature documenting a protective association between employment and IPV [33], some previous work has suggested that female employment may increase risk of IPV due to perceived power imbalances by the spouse [58,59]. However, in the context of drought, it may be that the woman's income contributes to household resilience to poverty and food insecurity associated with drought, which in turn decreases risk for violence.…”

Lifetime prevalence of intimate partner violence against women in an urban Brazilian city: A cross-sectional survey

“…Women in this community who experience IPVAW are more likely to be employed, have more children, and not cohabiting with their partner. Employment status has had mixed associations in studies throughout the world [29–32] and not associated with IPVAW in northeastern Brazil. [33] The unclear association of women’s employment status may be due to the complex interplay of socioeconomics and gender norms.…”

“…The theoretical complexity of women’s employment status and its implication on relationship dynamics mirrors the inconsistent associations found in previous studies. [32,34]…”

Women’s income and risk of intimate partner violence: secondary findings from the MAISHA cluster randomised trial in North-Western Tanzania

“…The picture from observational studies examining the links between a woman's economic circumstances and her current IPV risk is similarly complex [7]. For example, women's employment or working for money has been associated with lower violence in some settings [29] but higher in others [19,[29][30][31][32] with some suggestion that formal employment may be more protective than irregular or seasonal employment [33] and longer duration of employment more protective than shorter [34]. Other studies from a range of countries indicate no association between women's employment or income and IPV [19,29,35].…”