Women’s Attitudes Towards Wife-beating in Tanzania: Evidence from the 2015/16 National Demographic and Health Survey

Authors

Magashi JosephFollow
Neema Msenda, University of Dar es Salaam, TanzaniaFollow

Abstract

Approval of wife-beating implies a continuous women victimisation which affects their health, wellbeing, and their involvement in productive activities in the economy. The study intends to investigate socioeconomic determinants of approval of wife-beating in Tanzania. The analysis uses cross-sectional data of a representative sample of 5,889 married women from the 2015/16 Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey. Result shows that about 60% of married women approve wife-beating from their partners/husbands in Tanzania. Further, multivariate logistic regression estimates reveal that approval of wife beating is negatively associated with women involvement in decision-making, household economic status, women’s and partner’s education, and women media access. On the other hand, partner’s or husband’s drinking of alcohol is positively associated with approval of wife-beating. These findings provide several policy implications towards reversing the chronic acceptance of wife-beating attitudes in Tanzania. Foremost, there is a need for women to be empowered through access to media, education, and employment as it decreases the likelihood of the attitude of accepting wife-beating. Further, women economic empowerment must be embraced to inculcate gender balance, and lastly a combination of awareness raising and strict application of laws against wife-beating need to be instituted to redress the problem in Tanzania.

Recommended Citation

Joseph, Magashi and Msenda, Neema (2020) "Women’s Attitudes Towards Wife-beating in Tanzania: Evidence from the 2015/16 National Demographic and Health Survey," Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences: Vol. 09 : No. 1 , Article 6.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.56279/jhss.v9.i1.1