Do ethnicity and polygyny contribute to justification of men beating women in Ghana?. Issue 1 (2nd January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Amo-Adjei, Joshua; Tuoyire, Derek Anamaale
• Is Part Of: Women & health. Volume 56:Issue 1(2016)
• Page Start: 48
• Page End: 64
• Publication Date: 2016-01-02
• Subjects: Ethnicity -- Ghana -- intimate partner violence -- justification -- polygyny; Women -- Health and hygiene -- Periodicals; Women -- Health and hygiene -- United States -- Periodicals; Women's health services -- Periodicals; Gynecology -- Periodicals; Women in medicine -- Periodicals; 613.0424405
• DOI: 10.1080/03630242.2015.1074638
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0363-0242

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Violence against intimate partners threatens public health and social cohesion, and its prevalence could increase with an attitude of justification of such violence. The objective of this article was to use religion and ethnicity as proxies for culture to examine Ghanaian women's acceptance of being beaten. We employed descriptive and binary logistic regression statistics applied to Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey data collected in 2011 in Ghana. With a weighted sample of 10, 627 women, the findings revealed that more than half (59.83%, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 57.41%, 62.2%) of the respondents justified at least one form of intimate partner violence (IPV) or another and being a Mole-Dagbani (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.41; 95%; CI = 1.05, 1.90) and/or in a polygamous marriage/union (AOR = 1.22; 95% CI = 1.04, 1.420) were significant risk factors for justifying IPV. Activism in promoting IPV-free communities has to be group-specific to reach those in need of interventions.