August 15, 2024
BHUTAN – Around 25 percent of Bhutanese women and girls believe it is justifiable for a man to beat his wife if she is unfaithful or neglects their children while around 10 percent of respondents agreed with other conditions outlined in the survey that could justify such violence.
This is according to the National Health Survey conducted in 2023. The survey interviewed 11,686 women aged 15 to 64 to gauge their perceptions of gender-based violence, including its justification under various circumstances.
The survey included seven questions designed to explore justifications for domestic violence. These questions addressed scenarios such as dissatisfaction with household chores, disobedience, refusal of sex, and suspicions of infidelity. Shockingly, no single question received unanimous condemnation of violence, with nearly 50% of women endorsing more than one justification.
Acceptance of violence varied significantly based on education, wealth, age, and location. Among older women, acceptance was notably higher with 47.5 percent of women aged 55-59 and 46.8 percent of those aged 60-64 believed violence could be justified.
In contrast, acceptance was lower among younger women and those with higher educational qualifications. For instance, 47.7 percent of women with no formal education accepted some forms of violence, compared to 32.8 percent of women with a Bachelor’s degree or higher. The lowest acceptance rate was observed among women with certificates or diplomas, at 21.4 percent.
Geographically, women in rural areas showed higher acceptance of violence (45.9 percent) compared to their urban counterparts (40.5 percent). By wealth quartile, women and girls from the lowest income group (46.6 percent) were more likely to accept such violence compared to those in the highest income group (39.3 percent).
The survey also probed attitudes towards physical partner violence with statements such as “A good wife obeys her husband even if she disagrees.” The respondents could agree or not. About 30 percent of women agreed with this, with acceptance increasing with age. For instance, 22.1 percent of women aged 15-19 agreed while over 35 percent of women aged 40 and above agreed.
A female corporate employee said that questions like whether a partner is unfaithful were misleading for understanding perceptions of violence against women because it is not a gender-sensitive question. “When the question of being unfaithful is subjective, it can lead to situations where even women might justify violence against men. This may explain why many women accepted it as a reason for justifying violence which is wrong.”
A de-suup, Tashi, expressed concerns about violence in the country: “It is not justifiable for even parents to beat their children, let alone for a male partner to beat a woman, with women accepting such violence for various reasons,” she said. “There are many other solutions and ways to address problems rather than accepting violence,” she added.
A communications researcher said that the finding is likely flawed because of the innate flaw in the way the question was designed. “There was no option in the questionnaire to reject any form of violence under any circumstances. So apparently, respondents had to choose from the list of options provided.”