Endorsement of Intimate Partner Violence among Afghan Women: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of 2015 DHS Data

Abstract

There are ongoing global efforts to mitigate intimate partner violence (IPV); nevertheless, IPV is extensive in conflict-affected countries like Afghanistan. This study examined disparities in IPV endorsement among Afghan women using data from the 2015 Afghanistan Demographic and Health Survey of 20,793 ethnically diverse married women. We adopted intersectionality and social entrapment theories to account for various socio-cultural factors that explain IPV endorsement in the Afghan context. The results revealed that over 80% of respondents endorsed physical IPV in various circumstances. Hierarchical logistic regression estimated over threefold effects of broader social and cultural factors with a Nagelkerke R Square value of 0.131 (13.1%) variance in the IPV endorsement than the commonly found socio-demographic risk factors with a Nagelkerke R Square value of 0.041 (4.1%) variance. According to our multivariate analysis, the most significant predictor was fear of husbands, which explained 9.4% of the variance. Province-level political conflict severity and prior exposure to parental IPV accounted for another 1.6% and .8% variance, respectively. We also noted many culture- and context-specific variations, emphasizing the need for a nuanced approach to addressing the issue of Afghan women’s stance on IPV.