Sharing Responsibility through Joint Decision Making and Implications for Intimate-Partner Violence : Evidence from 12 Sub-Saharan African Countries

Intimate partner violence affects 36 percent of women in Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper examines the relationship between decision making within couples and the incidence of intimate partner violence across 12 African countries. Using the wife’s responses to survey questions, the analysis finds that compared with joint decision making, sole decision making by the husband is associated with a 3.3 percentage point higher incidence of physical intimate partner violence in the last year, while sole decision making by the wife is associated with a 10 percentage point higher incidence. Similar patterns hold for emotional and sexual violence. When the husband’s report of decision making is included in the analysis, joint decision making emerges as protective only when spouses agree that decisions are made jointly. Notably, agreement on joint decision making is associated with lower intimate partner violence than agreement on decision making by the husband. Constructs undergirding common intimate partner violence theories, namely attitudes toward violence, similarity of preferences, marital capital, and bargaining, do not explain the relationship. The results are instead consistent with joint decision making as a mechanism that allows spouses to share responsibility and mitigate conflict if the decision is later regretted.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Donald, Aletheia, Doss, Cheryl, Goldstein, Markus P., Gupta, Sakshi
Format: Working Paper biblioteca
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2021-08
Subjects:INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE, INTRAHOUSEHOLD BARGAINING, DECISION MAKING PROCESS, GENDER INNOVATION LAB, AFRICA GENDER POLICY, WOMEN AND DEVELOPMENT, VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN, WOMEN AND SOCIAL NORMS,
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/undefined/255851630330267060/Sharing-Responsibility-through-Joint-Decision-Making-and-Implications-for-Intimate-Partner-Violence-Evidence-from-12-Sub-Saharan-African-Countries
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36225
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spelling dig-okr-10986362252021-09-10T14:04:50Z Sharing Responsibility through Joint Decision Making and Implications for Intimate-Partner Violence : Evidence from 12 Sub-Saharan African Countries Donald, Aletheia Doss, Cheryl Goldstein, Markus P. Gupta, Sakshi INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE INTRAHOUSEHOLD BARGAINING DECISION MAKING PROCESS GENDER INNOVATION LAB AFRICA GENDER POLICY WOMEN AND DEVELOPMENT VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN WOMEN AND SOCIAL NORMS Intimate partner violence affects 36 percent of women in Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper examines the relationship between decision making within couples and the incidence of intimate partner violence across 12 African countries. Using the wife’s responses to survey questions, the analysis finds that compared with joint decision making, sole decision making by the husband is associated with a 3.3 percentage point higher incidence of physical intimate partner violence in the last year, while sole decision making by the wife is associated with a 10 percentage point higher incidence. Similar patterns hold for emotional and sexual violence. When the husband’s report of decision making is included in the analysis, joint decision making emerges as protective only when spouses agree that decisions are made jointly. Notably, agreement on joint decision making is associated with lower intimate partner violence than agreement on decision making by the husband. Constructs undergirding common intimate partner violence theories, namely attitudes toward violence, similarity of preferences, marital capital, and bargaining, do not explain the relationship. The results are instead consistent with joint decision making as a mechanism that allows spouses to share responsibility and mitigate conflict if the decision is later regretted. 2021-09-02T15:50:17Z 2021-09-02T15:50:17Z 2021-08 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/undefined/255851630330267060/Sharing-Responsibility-through-Joint-Decision-Making-and-Implications-for-Intimate-Partner-Violence-Evidence-from-12-Sub-Saharan-African-Countries http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36225 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9760 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Africa Sub-Saharan Africa
institution Banco Mundial
collection DSpace
country Estados Unidos
countrycode US
component Bibliográfico
access En linea
databasecode dig-okr
tag biblioteca
region America del Norte
libraryname Biblioteca del Banco Mundial
language English
topic INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE
INTRAHOUSEHOLD BARGAINING
DECISION MAKING PROCESS
GENDER INNOVATION LAB
AFRICA GENDER POLICY
WOMEN AND DEVELOPMENT
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
WOMEN AND SOCIAL NORMS
INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE
INTRAHOUSEHOLD BARGAINING
DECISION MAKING PROCESS
GENDER INNOVATION LAB
AFRICA GENDER POLICY
WOMEN AND DEVELOPMENT
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
WOMEN AND SOCIAL NORMS
spellingShingle INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE
INTRAHOUSEHOLD BARGAINING
DECISION MAKING PROCESS
GENDER INNOVATION LAB
AFRICA GENDER POLICY
WOMEN AND DEVELOPMENT
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
WOMEN AND SOCIAL NORMS
INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE
INTRAHOUSEHOLD BARGAINING
DECISION MAKING PROCESS
GENDER INNOVATION LAB
AFRICA GENDER POLICY
WOMEN AND DEVELOPMENT
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
WOMEN AND SOCIAL NORMS
Donald, Aletheia
Doss, Cheryl
Goldstein, Markus P.
Gupta, Sakshi
Sharing Responsibility through Joint Decision Making and Implications for Intimate-Partner Violence : Evidence from 12 Sub-Saharan African Countries
description Intimate partner violence affects 36 percent of women in Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper examines the relationship between decision making within couples and the incidence of intimate partner violence across 12 African countries. Using the wife’s responses to survey questions, the analysis finds that compared with joint decision making, sole decision making by the husband is associated with a 3.3 percentage point higher incidence of physical intimate partner violence in the last year, while sole decision making by the wife is associated with a 10 percentage point higher incidence. Similar patterns hold for emotional and sexual violence. When the husband’s report of decision making is included in the analysis, joint decision making emerges as protective only when spouses agree that decisions are made jointly. Notably, agreement on joint decision making is associated with lower intimate partner violence than agreement on decision making by the husband. Constructs undergirding common intimate partner violence theories, namely attitudes toward violence, similarity of preferences, marital capital, and bargaining, do not explain the relationship. The results are instead consistent with joint decision making as a mechanism that allows spouses to share responsibility and mitigate conflict if the decision is later regretted.
format Working Paper
topic_facet INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE
INTRAHOUSEHOLD BARGAINING
DECISION MAKING PROCESS
GENDER INNOVATION LAB
AFRICA GENDER POLICY
WOMEN AND DEVELOPMENT
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
WOMEN AND SOCIAL NORMS
author Donald, Aletheia
Doss, Cheryl
Goldstein, Markus P.
Gupta, Sakshi
author_facet Donald, Aletheia
Doss, Cheryl
Goldstein, Markus P.
Gupta, Sakshi
author_sort Donald, Aletheia
title Sharing Responsibility through Joint Decision Making and Implications for Intimate-Partner Violence : Evidence from 12 Sub-Saharan African Countries
title_short Sharing Responsibility through Joint Decision Making and Implications for Intimate-Partner Violence : Evidence from 12 Sub-Saharan African Countries
title_full Sharing Responsibility through Joint Decision Making and Implications for Intimate-Partner Violence : Evidence from 12 Sub-Saharan African Countries
title_fullStr Sharing Responsibility through Joint Decision Making and Implications for Intimate-Partner Violence : Evidence from 12 Sub-Saharan African Countries
title_full_unstemmed Sharing Responsibility through Joint Decision Making and Implications for Intimate-Partner Violence : Evidence from 12 Sub-Saharan African Countries
title_sort sharing responsibility through joint decision making and implications for intimate-partner violence : evidence from 12 sub-saharan african countries
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2021-08
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/undefined/255851630330267060/Sharing-Responsibility-through-Joint-Decision-Making-and-Implications-for-Intimate-Partner-Violence-Evidence-from-12-Sub-Saharan-African-Countries
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36225
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