Is women's empowerment enough for intimate partner violence in Muslim‐majority nations?

• Published date: 01 December 2024
• Author: Dogan Hatun,Ahmet Fidan
• Date: 01 December 2024
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.13079

RESEARCH

Is women’s empowerment enough for intimate partner

violence in Muslim-majority nations?

Dogan Hatun

1

| Ahmet Fidan

2

1

Department of Sociology, U¸sak University,

U¸sak,Türkiye

2

Department of Sociology, Adıyaman

University, Adıyaman, Türkiye

Correspondence

Dogan Hatun, U¸sak Üniversitesi, Ankara

_

Izmir Yolu 8.Km Bir Eylül Kampüsü, Merkez

/UŞAK.

Email: dogan.hatun@usak.edu.tr

Abstract

Objective: This study investigates the roles of women’s

empowerment through employment and decision-making

power on the association between intimate partner violence

(IPV) and gender traditionalism in Muslim-majority nations.

Background: Women empowerment and gender ideology

perspectives argue that women’s resources or egalitarian

ideology decrease the IPV that women experience. Many

studies, in various nations, found backlash effects where

women were exposed to more IPV.

Method: Using Demographic and Health Surveys of

Afghanistan 2015 (N=19,862), Egypt 2014 (N=6,283),

Pakistan 2017–2018 (N=3,167), and Tajikistan 2017

(N=4,864) and negative binomial regression analyses, we

examined the effects of married women’s empowerment

on IPV (emotional, physical, sexual, and husbands’con-

trolling behaviors [HCB]).

Results:Overall, we found that women’s gender tradition-

alism increased IPV in all nations. Women’s empower-

ment, however, decreased the total IPV associated with

gender traditionalism in four nations, but women’s

employment increased the total IPV in Egypt.

Conclusions: We conclude that total IPV and HCB are

related to gender traditionalism, but they depend on

women’s empowerment in some Muslim-majority nations.

Implications: Governments might consider making policies

that would increase women’s knowledge on gender equity

and working women’s rights, such as including gender

quotas in workplaces to empower women. This could lead

to a long-term decrease in attitudes that tolerate IPV.

KEYWORDS

gender traditionalism, intimate partner violence, women’s empowerment

Received: 5 December 2023 Revised: 2 June 2024 Accepted: 29 June 2024

DOI: 10.1111/fare.13079

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and

reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2024 The Author(s). Family Relations published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of National Council on Family Relations.

Family Relations. 2024;73:3325–3342. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fare 3325

INTRODUCTION

Intimate partner violence (IPV) has substantial health implications according to a large body of

studies, proving that it is not only a human rights issue but also a public health problem in all

developed and developing nations (Dillon et al., 2013; Garcia-Moreno et al., 2006). The effects

of IPV are both short and long term, as well as continuous over time; thus, women and their

progeny who are directly affected by violence are affected by its direct and indirect health

effects (Zegenhagen et al., 2019) including depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder,

injuries, stress, and fear (Poutiainen & Holma, 2013). The World Health Organization (WHO),

in its report, defines IPV as “behavior within an intimate relationship that causes physical, sex-

ual or psychological harm, including acts of physical aggression, sexual coercion, psychological

abuse and controlling behaviors”(WHO, 2010, p. 11). Related to this definition, although con-

trolling behavior has been used as a determinant of IPV in some earlier research (Ogland

et al., 2014), Johnson (1995) used the term patriarchal terrorism and considered not only vio-

lence, but economic subordination, threats, isolation, and other control tactics as parts of IPV.

In other words, the four types of IPV against women are the husband’s controlling behaviors

and physical, sexual, and emotional violence (Ba¸skan & Alkan, 2023). Compared to others,

wives or women partners are more likely to experience domestic violence in families and socie-

ties. In developed countries, one in every three women is subjected to abuse by her spouse, and

in underdeveloped countries, the rate of violence against women by an intimate partner might

be even greater (Fidan & Bui, 2016; Ogland et al., 2014).

Because there is such a wide range of incidences of violence against women in different

nations, cultural variables may have a role in determining real rates of violence (Douki

et al., 2003). In other words, IPV occurs under various conditions and among individuals with

various socioeconomic, religious, and cultural backgrounds. Among developing countries,

Muslim countries also have a higher rate of IPV. Although the discussion of domestic violence

is a sensitive subject because privacy and family values are respected highly (Afrouz

et al., 2020), the issue has started to be recognized as a major human rights, development, and

health concern in some Muslim countries.

Existing IPV theories have primarily been established using data from Western countries,

therefore, it is unclear whether they can be extended or extrapolated to Muslim societies. The

goal of this research, thus, is to explore self-reported IPV in Muslim countries and compare

Western perspectives—women empowerment and gender ideology—to establish their efficacy

in clarifying IPV against women in Muslim countries. The most valuable contribution of this

research is that it allows us to assess if research findings may be transferred from one society to

another where women’s rights are legally limited and women have a poor social status.

BACKGROUND

Women’s status and IPV in Muslim societies

Gender relations in Muslim societies have been shaped by the accumulative experiences of men

and women based on the history of Islam. The right to independent ownership was a privilege

denied to women both before and after the advent of Islam; however, a woman’s claim to her

money, property, or other possessions is completely recognized under Islamic law

(Badawi, 1971). Since the beginning of religion, women have been in charge of domestic pro-

duction and reproduction, whereas men have been in charge of heavy agricultural work and

providing food for the family. Though some rights of women have started to improve through

progressive legislation promoting empowerment in some Muslim countries, they rank poorly

on several international measures of gender equality, including gender disparities in economic

3326 FAMILY RELATIONS