Abstract
Understanding how and why physical intimate partner violence (IPV) persists in high-risk communities has proven difficult. As IPV is both sensitive and illegal, people may be inclined to misreport their views and experiences. By embedding a list randomization experiment (LRE), which increases respondent privacy, in a survey of 809 adult Arsi Oromo men and women in rural south-central Ethiopia, we test the reliability of direct questioning survey methods (e.g., used in the Demographic and Health Surveys) for measuring attitudes that underpin the acceptability of IPV. Participants were randomly assigned versions of the survey in which they were asked either directly or indirectly about the acceptability of wife-beating. By comparing responses across these surveys, we identify the extent to which views are being misreported using direct questioning methods, as well as identifying the “true” predictors of continued support for wife-beating. Indirect questioning reveals that almost one third of the sample believe that wife-beating is acceptable. Adults (particularly men) who are less educated (<3 years schooling) or living in households where women do not participate in economic decision making are among those most likely to identify wife-beating as justifiable (>50% endorsement). These individuals, however, are also more inclined to hide their approval when asked directly by an interviewer. That we find high but underreported support for wife-beating among some members of the community demonstrates a clear need to encourage a more open dialogue, to prevent violence toward women remaining undetected and thus unchanged. This finding also raises questions about the accuracy of traditional direct questioning for capturing information on IPV attitudes and norms. Of relevance to policy, we find that wife-beating is entirely absent only among adults with higher levels of education, living in households where decision making is shared between couples.
Highlights
Physical intimate partner violence (IPV) by men against women has major implications for women’s physical, reproductive, and psychological health, and their economic welfare and that of the wider community (Ellsberg et al, 2008)
To identify whether wife-beating acceptance was associated with individual gender, age group, education level, perceived household wealth group, and household level of female economic empowerment, the sample was divided into subgroups
Using a list randomization experiment (LRE) we find evidence of high but concealed acceptance of physical IPV among subsections of a rural Ethiopian community
Summary
Physical intimate partner violence (IPV) by men against women has major implications for women’s physical, reproductive, and psychological health, and their economic welfare and that of the wider community (Ellsberg et al, 2008). Reporting what is perceived to be socially appropriate and acceptable rather than true beliefs (referred to as social desirability bias) may explain the discrepancies found between intimate partners in self-report surveys (e.g., one in three Tanzanian couples disagree about IPV occurrence; Halim et al, 2018; Yount & Li, 2012). Evidence that individuals may feel under different social pressures to misreport their views on physical IPV is suggested by the gender discrepancy in justification for wife-beating reported in the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic Health Survey (DHS). 63% of women, compared with 28% of men, stated that wife-beating is justifiable (Central Statistical Agency [CSA] [Ethiopia] & ICF International, 2016)
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