The intergenerational transmission of intimate partner violence in Bangladesh

A number of individual risk factors for intimate partner violence (IPV) have been identified in Bangladesh. However, the etiology of IPV, intergenerational transmission, has never been tested in Bangladesh.

We examined whether witnessing inter-parental physical violence (IPPV) was associated with IPV to identify whether IPV passes across generations in Bangladesh.

We used nationally representative data of currently married women from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey-2007. Variations in experiencing IPV were assessed by Chi-square tests. Logistic regression models were fit to determine the association between witnessing IPPV and different types of IPV against women.

One-fourth of women witnessed IPPV and experienced IPV. After adjusting for the covariates, women who witnessed IPPV were 2.4 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.0-2.8) times more likely to experience any kind of IPV, 2.5 (95% CI: 2.0-3.0) times more likely to experience moderate physical IPV, 2.3 (95% CI: 1.8-3.0) times more likely to experience severe physical IPV, and 1.8 (95% CI: 1.4-2.3) times more likely to experience sexual IPV. Age, age at first marriage, literacy, work status, wealth, justified wife beating, and women's autonomy were also identified as significant correlates of IPV.

This study's results indicate that IPV passes from one generation to another. We make recommendations for preventing IPPV so that subsequent generations can enjoy healthy, respectful, nonviolent relationships in married life without exposure to IPV in Bangladesh.