文章基本信息

标题：Individual and Contextual Determinants of Domestic Violence in North India
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作者：Michael A. Koenig ; Rob Stephenson ; Saifuddin Ahmed 等
期刊名称：American journal of public health
印刷版ISSN：0090-0036
出版年度：2006
卷号：96
期号：1
页码：132-138
DOI：10.2105/AJPH.2004.050872
语种：English
出版社：American Public Health Association
摘要：Objectives . We examined individual- and community-level influences on domestic violence in Uttar Pradesh, North India. Methods . Multilevel modeling was used to explore domestic violence outcomes among a sample of 4520 married men. Results . Recent physical and sexual domestic violence was associated with the individual-level variables of childlessness, economic pressure, and intergenerational transmission of violence. A community environment of violent crime was associated with elevated risks of both physical and sexual violence. Community-level norms concerning wife beating were significantly related only to physical violence. Conclusions . Important similarities as well as differences were evident in risk factors for physical and sexual domestic violence. Higher socioeconomic status was found to be protective against physical but not sexual violence. Our results provide additional support for the importance of contextual factors in shaping women’s risks of physical and sexual violence. Over the last decade, violence against women in developing countries has emerged as a growing concern among researchers and policymakers interested in women’s health and empowerment. In developing countries, women are vulnerable to many forms of violence, and domestic violence represents the most common form. 1 The World Health Organization defines domestic violence as “the range of sexually, psychologically and physically coercive acts used against adult and adolescent women by current or former male intimate partners.” 2 In a review of population-based studies, Krug et al. found that 10% to 69% of women reported that they had experienced physical violence from a male partner. 3 There is growing recognition of the possible linkages between domestic violence and a range of adverse physical, mental, and reproductive health outcomes. 1 ^, 3 ^– 6 Studies conducted during the last decade have identified a number of individual- and household-level risk factors for domestic violence. Higher socioeconomic status levels and higher levels of education among women have generally been found to be protective factors against women’s risk of domestic violence. 7 ^– 10 Several studies have shown that demographic factors such as age, number of living male children, and extended family residence are inversely associated with risk of domestic violence. 11 ^– 13 In addition, studies from India have shown lower dowry levels to be associated with significantly higher subsequent risks of violence. 8 ^, 11 The possible link between women’s status and empowerment and domestic violence has also received considerable attention, with several studies revealing that increased status—as reflected by women’s control over resources or membership in group-based savings and credit programs—is associated with significantly lower rates of domestic violence. 8 ^, 13 Other studies, however, have shown that increased women’s empowerment may actually exacerbate the risk of violence, at least in the short run. 12 ^, 14 One of the most systematic findings from previous studies relates to the inter-generational transmission of violence, with the witnessing of violence between parents as a child emerging as a strong predictor of subsequent domestic violence. 15 ^– 21 The prominent role of alcohol as well has been highlighted in several studies, the results of which have shown that alcohol consumption played a significant precipitating role in incidents of violence. 11 ^, 22 ^– 25 The role of contextual and community-level factors in shaping risk of domestic violence has also recently been the focus of increased attention. 26 Although strong anthropological evidence exists indicating that community-level cultural and contextual variables are important in determining levels of intimate partner violence across cultures, 27 ^, 28 until recently there has been little quantitative evidence supporting this association. Studies from the United States have revealed significant associations between contextual variables reflecting neighborhood poverty and risk of domestic violence. 29 ^, 30 In addition, recent studies conducted in rural Bangladesh and Colombia have shown that community-level measures of women’s status and domestic violence, respectively, have significant effects on women’s risk of domestic violence. 12 ^, 31 A general understanding of the underlying precipitating factors for domestic violence in developing countries remains limited. Previous research has been characterized by a predominant focus on the perspective of female respondents, despite evidence that the principal perpetrators of domestic violence in almost all developing country settings are men. Previous studies, moreover, have focused almost exclusively on physical violence, with few investigations also considering within-marriage sexual violence. A final limitation has been an almost exclusive focus on the roles of individual-level determinants, with much less attention given to the roles of broader community and contextual factors in precipitating or protecting against violence. We analyzed data from a large, representative sample of married men in 4 districts in the North Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and assessed the respective contributions of individual (socioeconomic, demographic, relationship, and intergenerational exposure to domestic violence) and contextual (economic development, gender and wife beating norms, violent crime levels) factors hypothesized as important in conditioning the likelihood of male-to-female physical and sexual domestic violence.