Women's Attitudes Toward Intimate Partner Violence in Low- and Middle-Income Countries of Southern Asia.

PURPOSE: The present study identified the vulnerable IPV cohorts of South Asian women, and the prevalence of and predictors of the women's IPV acceptance.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey - the United Nations Children's Fund multiple index cluster survey.

SETTING: Many South Asian women are accepting of IPV. Studies mostly focus on individual countries.

SUBJECT: 103 139 ever-married women from Bangladesh, Laos and Nepal.

MEASURES: Women's attitudes toward IPV were measured using a set of five, fixed, binary responses.

ANALYSIS: Following bivariate analysis, complex survey weight adjusted logistic regression models were fitted for individual country data, and the pooled sample.

RESULTS: Of the sampled South Asian women 27.8% accepted IPV, and no major variation among countries in IPV acceptance. Education was the most reliable protector against IPV acceptance whereby, higher educational attainment systematically reduced IPV acceptance (OR = .61 [.56-.83]). Other significant protective factors were being un-married (Married OR = 1.34 [1.28-1.42]), having increased wealth (OR = .71 [.56-.83]), and being over 24 years old (OR = .88 [.83-.97]).

CONCLUSION: Only education produced absolute consistency at the country and region level; there seems to be no blanket solution for regionally reducing women's IPV acceptance rates in Southern Asia. Focus on the least educated women and making education more accessible should be prioritised. Future IPV studies can consider measurement methods for women's direct exposure to patriarchal standards and within community interaction.