Effect of Women’s Status on Consanguinity in the Arab Society of Israel

Abstract

Background: Consanguinity is a traditional phenomenon that is common in many communities worldwide. In Arab countries, its prevalence is considered to be high, despite its decrease in some Arab societies. According to the Arab society in Israel, the rates of consanguineous marriages (CMs) recently were found to be increasing in the last decade. Generally, various socio-demographic factors play an important role in determining the prevalence rates of consanguineous marriages. Objective: The purpose of the current study is to determine the prevalence rates of consanguineous marriages among the Arab society in Israel, relating to various women’s socio-demographic factors. The study explored the effect of wives’ age at marriage, their educational attainment, their employment, and their income level on consanguinity in this community. Method: The data were obtained from a health national survey that was carried out during the year 2017, among the Arab society in Israel. The subjects supplied the required information about themselves through personal face-to-face interviews using a survey questionnaire prepared specifically for this purpose. A detailed analysis was conducted to determine statistical significance. Result: It was observed that the prevalence rate of consanguineous marriages among the women from the Arab society in Israel seems to be high (~42%). Furthermore, the prevalence rates of CMs were found to be inversely proportional to the wife’s age at marriage and their educational attainment. A significant difference could be detected between the rates of CMs and non-CMs in relation to wife’s employment factor and wife’s income level (i.e., 70% of the employed women had non-CMs and 65% of the high wife’s income level had non-CMs). Conclusion: Our findings demonstrated that women’s status played a vital role in the prevalence rates of CMs, thus, we recommend the improvement of the various women-related socio-demographic factors.