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Culture and domestic violence amongst ever-married women in Malawi: an analysis of emotional, sexual, less-severe physical and severe physical violence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2020

Lana Clara Chikhungu Open the ORCID record for Lana Clara Chikhungu [Opens in a new window] ,
Tamsin Bradley ,
Monica Jamali  and
Ottis Mubaiwa
Lana Clara Chikhungu*
Affiliation:
School of Area Studies, History, Politics and Literature, Faculty Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Portsmouth, UK
Tamsin Bradley
Affiliation:
School of Area Studies, History, Politics and Literature, Faculty Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Portsmouth, UK
Monica Jamali
Affiliation:
School of Economic, Social and Political Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Southampton, UK
Ottis Mubaiwa
Affiliation:
School of Area Studies, History, Politics and Literature, Faculty Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Portsmouth, UK
*
*Corresponding author. Email: lana.chikhungu@port.ac.uk
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Abstract

Nearly 42% of ever-married women in Malawi have experienced some form of physical, sexual or emotional violence perpetrated by their current or most recent spouse – higher than the global estimate of 35%. This study used national-level data for ever-married women aged 15–49 years from the 2015 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey to explore the association between cultural factors and the likelihood of women experiencing sexual, physical and emotional violence after controlling for socioeconomic factors using multilevel logistic regression modelling. Key cultural factors found to be associated with violence against ever-married women in Malawi were type of marriage (polygynous or monogamous), age at marriage, religion and ethnicity. Husband's consumption of alcohol also emerged as a very important factor in violence against married women. Interventions to tackle violence against married women in Malawi should aim at promoting monogamous marriages and discouraging polygynous marriages, and address the culture of heavy alcohol consumption amongst husbands. Future studies could explore further if there are key lessons that families can learn from Muslim families and across ethnic groups.

Keywords

ViolenceMarried womenMalawi
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 53 , Issue 2 , March 2021 , pp. 199 - 213
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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