In a sample of 13 African countries between 1999 and 2004, 52% of women surveyed say they think that wife beating is justified if she neglects the children; around 45% think it’s justified if she goes out without telling the husband or argues with him; 36% if she refuses sex, and 30% if she burns the food.
And this is what the women think.
We live in a strange world.
(Source: Demographic and Health Surveys, publicly available at www.measuredhs.com. Thanks to Emily Oster for forwarding these statistics to me.)
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I am absolutely blown away by these numbers.
To me -in my ethnocentric mind- this just doesn’t even seem possible. It’s shocking to think that over here we wonder why there aren’t more women on boards of directors, while over there it is (in some cases)acceptable to beat your wife over burnt food.
I would be curious to see time series data – possibly with downward trends. i hope that is/will be the case
I am absolutely blown away by these numbers.
To me -in my ethnocentric mind- this just doesn’t even seem possible. It’s shocking to think that over here we wonder why there aren’t more women on boards of directors, while over there it is (in some cases)acceptable to beat your wife over burnt food.
I would be curious to see time series data – possibly with downward trends. i hope that is/will be the case
Yes, well, just remember that this is a continent on which extremely non-sterile “surgical” (and I use the term VERY loosely) removal of the clitoris is practiced to prevent women from becoming promiscuous. One might think that it would be the men that would be perpetuating this, but it’s not- it’s the women. The prevailing attitude seems to be either of agreement with it’s efficacy in preventing promiscuity or “I had to put up with it, so do you.”
Yes, well, just remember that this is a continent on which extremely non-sterile “surgical” (and I use the term VERY loosely) removal of the clitoris is practiced to prevent women from becoming promiscuous. One might think that it would be the men that would be perpetuating this, but it’s not- it’s the women. The prevailing attitude seems to be either of agreement with it’s efficacy in preventing promiscuity or “I had to put up with it, so do you.”
This reminds me of an old debate about the responsibility of the Catholic Church for its anti-condom policy in Africa.
me: the Church is causing massive suffering
Church defender: if people actually obeyed Catholic sexual guidelines, AIDS wouldn’t be a problem
me: but the Church doesn’t get to make rules for angels, it makes rules for humans, and those humans would be better off with widespread condom use
Church defender: anyone who obeys the Church’s rules doesn’t get HIV
me: not true, wives can be infected by husbands
Church defender: that’s their choice… any self-respecting woman shouldn’t sleep with her husband if she suspects him of adultery
me: sigh
This reminds me of an old debate about the responsibility of the Catholic Church for its anti-condom policy in Africa.
me: the Church is causing massive suffering
Church defender: if people actually obeyed Catholic sexual guidelines, AIDS wouldn’t be a problem
me: but the Church doesn’t get to make rules for angels, it makes rules for humans, and those humans would be better off with widespread condom use
Church defender: anyone who obeys the Church’s rules doesn’t get HIV
me: not true, wives can be infected by husbands
Church defender: that’s their choice… any self-respecting woman shouldn’t sleep with her husband if she suspects him of adultery
me: sigh
I think the answers would be quite different if the questions were personalized: “Your husband accuses you of neglecting the children. Is it permissible for him to beat you?”
I think the answers would be quite different if the questions were personalized: “Your husband accuses you of neglecting the children. Is it permissible for him to beat you?”