Are liberal men not abusive toward their wives? Evidence from rural Bangladesh

Gender ideology has widely been discussed in the explanation of wife abuse. However, how men's gender ideology influences wife abuse is quite overlooked in Bangladeshi context. This study examined how various types of gender ideology among men are associated with wife abuse in Bangladesh. It included 342 married men randomly selected from 5 villages. Negative binomial regression was employed to predict the incidence-rate ratio of wife abuse. Of the sample, 55.0% maintained traditional, 31.3% transitional, and 13.7% liberal gender ideologies. On average, the men perpetrated 6.10 abusive acts in a year. Data showed that the rates of overall wife abuse among liberal men were 41% and 48% lower than the traditional and transitional men, respectively. Liberal men also perpetrated less emotional, physical, and sexual abuses than both traditional and transitional men. The study shows that the promotion of liberal gender ideology among men is important for preventing wife abuse. Men should be targeted by diverse violence prevention interventions for enhancing gender equality attitudes. Though the study has provided novel findings in a Bangladeshi context, it was entirely based on male data. Future studies should examine both men's and women's views on the issues.