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Empowerment and intimate partner violence: Domestic abuse when household income is uncertain

Year: 2020

Type: article

Abstract: Intimate partner violence is an important global health problem that remains ill understood. Several studies have documented that female empowerment may increase violence against women—the so‐called “male backlash.” We propose a utilitarian explanation for this phenomenon, based on the assumption that violence may be used as an instrument to affect the distribution of the household surplus between the spouses. Our main result is that promoting norms of gender equity (or otherwise enhancing the prospects of divorced women) may inadvertently promote violence against women in settings where production outcomes are uncertain.

Source: Review of Development Economics

DOI: 10.1111/rode.12715

Authors: Erwin Bulte, Robert Lensink

Institutions: Wageningen University & Research, University of Groningen

Language: English

Topic: Intimate Partner and Family Violence

Subfield: Health

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Gender equality, Peace, justice, and strong institutions, Reduced inequalities, No poverty

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $2,700