Differentiating perceptions of intimate partner violence in Nepal

Area of Science:

• Sociology
• Public Health
• Gender Studies

Background:

• Perception of domestic violence is a key indicator of women's empowerment.
• Existing measures often treat this perception as a binary variable (justifying or not justifying wife beating).
• The Nepal Demographic Health Survey defines 'high' empowerment based on a woman answering 'no' to one of five specific circumstances of wife beating.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a more nuanced measure of domestic violence perception.
• To explore if women can be categorized based on endorsing some but not all types of domestic violence.
• To improve the understanding of women's empowerment by moving beyond a binary classification.

Main Methods:

• Latent Class Analysis (LCA) model was developed.
• The model was applied to data on women's perceptions of domestic violence.
• Analysis aimed to identify distinct subgroups (classes) of women based on their responses.

Main Results:

• The study identified distinct categories of women based on their perceptions of domestic violence.
• These categories reflect varying degrees of acceptance or rejection of different forms of wife beating.
• Findings indicate that perception of domestic violence is not strictly binary.

Conclusions:

• A more nuanced understanding of women's empowerment is needed.
• Latent Class Analysis provides a valuable tool for analyzing complex perceptions of domestic violence.
• Moving beyond binary measures enhances our comprehension of women's empowerment in diverse contexts.