Understanding Gender and Domestic Violence From a Sample of Married Women in Urban Thailand

Abstract

There is a widespread agreement among gender and family violence investigators that gender and socioeconomic inequalities play key roles in domestic violence against women (DVAW). By integrating the concepts of gender traditionalism and decision-making power into a variety of resource-based theories, this study develops a gender perspective to explore the linkages between gendered correlates and psychological and physical DVAW in urban Thailand. Based on a random sample of 770 married women in Bangkok, results from our Tobit regression models indicate that when Thai wives accept gender traditionalism, have significantly greater or smaller economic resources than their husbands, or have significantly greater or smaller decision-making power, they are at greater risk for multiple forms of domestic violence. However, contrary to expectations, Thai wives who report higher levels of social contact or integration do not experience less domestic violence. It is concluded that gender egalitarianism in urban Thailand can greatly reduce the risk of DVAW.