1. Hannah Al-Ghareeb
StudentGH (Global Health)
SHESC
ArizonaState University
04/23/13
Do Traditionally Patriarchal Societies Increase the Prevalence of Domestic
Violence?
Introduction
Existing within a world offering endless diversity, it has become evident that although
evolution itself has capitalized on this universal constant, diversity has incited not only
Darwinian competition but division among the human species to an unforeseen detrimental
degree. The idea of competition and hostility towards opponents is not preposterous. However,
the atrocities inflicted by such an advanced species of intelligence is quite an ironic phenomenon
considering whether one believes in scientific or cultural evolution, the catalyst for which
diverged humans from other forms was the emergence and maintenance of altruistic cooperative
behaviors. The life history of humans is full of imposing intolerance, discrimination, and
inferiority against tribes, race, ethnicity, and probably the longest running minority being
women. As far back since human history has been recorded, it is no exaggeration that the desires,
rights, and safety of women have been marginalized to accommodate those of male dominated
societies. In distinguishing between these genders, male identities are characterized by physical
and mental strength, voices of reason abstaining from producing unnecessary emotions, by being
more efficient in executing responsibilities, have designated themselves the dominant leaders.
Alternatively, their female counterparts consist of maternal, emotional, unclear thinking,
vulnerable and soft. Consequently, the patriarchal society was developed into “a male-
dominated power structure throughout organized society and in individual relationships”; in
order to secure the prosperity of humans.
In modern times, not much has changed for most societies maintain a patriarchal structure
within families. These structures assume specific roles and identities that influence and
challenge power structures between couples. These challenges often pose as threats to
individuals in power, and result in negative associations towards the challengers. Violence
against women occurs for many known and unknown reasons, however it is peculiar how it
evolves in a supposed trusted and safe bonded relationship; such as a husband and wife. The
types and magnitudes of violence toward female partners vary and include mental abuse,
physical, female genital mutilation, sex trafficking, early childhood arranged marriage, rape, rape
as a weapon of war, practices of wife burning, dowry murders, honor killings, violence while in
police custody, female infanticide, and Intimate Partner Violence that sometimes result in death.
As a consequence of attempting to maintain power in a modern world of globalization, it seems
that the rising empowerment of the group traditionally inferior, poses more threat than fellow
male competitors. The conceptualization of a population classified inferior from ancient times
surpassing the dominant one leads to competitive hostility and infliction of such upon this

2. “weaker” subcategory; but why? Why is domestic violence used as a form of conflict resolution
towards women across cultures, especially when studies continuously demonstrate a direct
correlation between Interpersonal Partner Violence (IPV) and the increase in direct and indirect
adverse health outcomes for women?
This is a massive global health concern because it results in mental and physical deterioration
of the health of women involved in these relationships. Studies across cultures including the
U.S., Turkey, India, Germany, and more show that survivors of IPV exhibit symptoms and
conditions of clinical depression, post traumatic stress disorder, hypertension, and anxiety
disorders to name a few. There has also been an increase of the transmission of HIV from
unwanted intercourse which results in abrasions and bleeding. Women in IPV are 48% more at
risk to contract HIV. Other physical effects have emerged such as complications with
pregnancies and injuries like Traumatic Gynecologic Fistulas caused by the tearing of vaginal
tissues. These negative effects have in-direct outcomes of their own within the society. Once a
woman has been raped or rendered physically altered they are viewed even more inferior,
undesirable, and disregarded.
The research question is as follows: Given the direct and indirect negative effects on the health
of women involved in Intimate Partner Violence, why does physical IPV become so prevalent
within marriages across cultures? It seems that temporary and long term situational
circumstances that incite the need to fulfill conditioned emotional securities which encompass
male identities, and therefore the need to dominate the power structure within their intimate
relationships is the causal factor in the increase of inflicted violence on women. These causal
attributes arise within traditionally patriarchal societies.
This phenomenon has occurred historically with only little improvement and is not going away
on its own, and it affects the entire household, community, social construct, cultural trends, and
prosperity of a country. As a consequence these factors that increase and decrease the health of
women in one area of the world, affect the international community since globalization has
spurred the exchange of ideas, cultural, technological, and disease trends.
Literary Review
It has been well documented that intimate partner violence towards women yields poor health
outcomes in women as well as men; increasing mortality rate, effects children and extended
family members who may inherit these behavioral patterns. It also spreads dysfunctional
behaviors throughout the culture as incidents and attitudes towards such are observed and
accepted; becoming norms in the society and eventually cultural normative customs and values.
To add, these responses to marital conflict decrease the productivity of a country’s economy by
the loss of female productivity and expenses of absorbing these conflicts which spill outside of
the marriage. Thus, the five criteria of economy, politics, education, health, and justice are
used to evaluate the quality of life of women internationally as well as the related prosperity as a
consequential result.
To start, the literature describes many factors that ignite physical abuse towards women in IPV.
The literature suggests that relationships with fidelity, financial issues, and other forms of

3. distrust or humiliation are the causes for increased IPV. In some surveys the WHO violence
module was used to extract information about past and present violence “using weighted,
stratified, and multistage cluster sampling”. This was aimed to ensure viability in retrieving the
correct information in the Turkish study. They used “Heise’s ecological framework” to inquire
about abuse in childhood and marriage; including current marital conditions. It was noted that
there was a tension between traditional and modern patriarchal arrangements within the
relationships. Factors like the magnitude of dominance by the man and the woman’s feelings
towards it were correlated to IPV. Another study visited households within two different time
frames, and deduced that husbands that became unemployed within that timeframe were “1.7
times the odds of experiencing violence compared to women whose partner remained employed
(Krishnan et al., 2010)”.
Victims reported “…significant injury, including severe head trauma (some resulting in
hospitalization/surgery), bite wounds, strangulation complications, and lost pregnancy. Chronic
relationship stressors evident across couples included ongoing anxiety about infidelity,
preoccupation with heterosexual gender roles and religious expectations, drug and alcohol use,
and mental health concerns (depression, anxiety, and suicide ideation/attempts)”.
On the other hand, there has been little focus on the effects of patriarchal societies on men. One
study investigated the research question of “Is patriarchy the source of men’s higher mortality?”
It started from the evidence that differences in mortality rates among women and men; men
being higher, were on account of differences in behavior. Since there was an absence of cross-
national investigation between the mortality rates of men and patriarchal levels of societies, it
was done by qualitatively researching more than a hundred countries. It was found that there
was a clear association which suggested that “oppression and exploitation harm the oppressors as
well as those they oppress”.
Countries lose expenses on medical accommodations for such violence and on the decreased
productivity of its women. In this modern globalized era, a country’s success is becoming
increasingly associated with the health and upward mobility of its women. It has even been
shown that the empowerment and education of women decreases the desired number of offspring
and thus poverty due to overpopulation. The main categories that demonstrate equitable rights
for women; enabling them to hold positions in society independently and self assured without a
male, are education, justice, politics, health, and economics. For example, a study by “Panda
and Agarwal (2005) found that possession of land or property reduced the risk of violence from
one’s husband. They suggest that ownership of property gives women more security because it
offers protection against fluctuations in the labor market and communicates that she has options
outside of marriage”.
To evaluate the effects of patriarchal societies more closely, a study was used to demonstrate
these five key indicators; economic, political, education, health, and justice, and deducing the
ranking of the ten worst and best countries in the world for women. Each factor is scaled from 1-
100 and were defined by The Daily Beast as such below.
Table 1: Factors Defined to Evaluate Study on Worst and Best Top Ten
Countries by The Daily Beast

4. Factor Definition from The Daily Beat
Justice : Laws protecting women from domestic
violence, adolescent marriage and marital
rape, and also women's access to land and
bank loans.
Health Includes rates of maternal death, HIV, and
infant mortality, and also access to safe
abortions and skilled health workers.
Education Education level, literacy, and gender parity in
schools.
Economics Includes percentage of women in the labor
force, gender pay gap, access to all industries,
ability to climb the ladder.
Politics Share of women in government, including
senior positions.
Table 2: The Ten WorstCountries for Women
Ranking Scale
Out
of
100
Country Justice Health Education Economics Politics Additional
Defining
Characteristics
1 0 Chad 20.7 0 0 70.9 22.2 “Women have
almost no rights

5. here, marriages r
arranged when
girls are 11-12 yrs
old.
2 2.0 Afghan-
istan
8.4 2.0 41.1 55.3 16.6 Almost 90%
women illiterate as
well as 85%+
acquire no medical
attention while
giving birth
3 12.1 Yemen 36.2 44.4 34.1 48.8 0.0 DV is not illegal,
no legal
recognition of rape
from husbands
4 13.6 DRC
(Democratic
Republic of
Congo)
6.5 11.4 45.1 67.8 27.2 “Domestic
Violence levels are
the worst we’ve
seen. More than
1,100 women are
raped daily”
5 17.6 Mali 22.7 29.9 25.8 64.3 49.8 The majority of
females have had
exposure to genital
mutilation
6 20.8 Solomon
Islands
0.0 53.6 86.5 46.0 1.9 Presently no
females in
parliament
7 21.2 Niger 26.5 32.9 47.5 58.6 31.3 No legislation
against forcing
girls even at age 10
to marry
8 21.4 Pakistan 49.7 49.6 34.0 50.7 19.3 In 2011 occurred
800 honor killings
9 23.7 Ethiopia 18.6 27.2 29.9 79.7 37.4 “One of the
highest rates of
unsafe abortion in
the world”
10 26.1 Sudan 21.1 29.4 70.6 54.5 40.8 Plans to implement
female quota in
government

6. Above is figure 1 which shows the results of table 2. The ten worst locations for women in
the world were evaluated and the five evaluating criteria were also ranked and shown
above.
Figure 2 shows the health sufficiency in the countries which exhibit the ten greatest health
disparities for women.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
CalculatedScaleoutof100
Ranking of Top Ten Worst Places
Fig. 2: The Ten Worst Places for Women Vs. Scale,
Health, Economics,and Justice
Health
Economics
Scale Out of 100
Justice

7. Figure 3 shows the worst countries for women and the success of their ecomony. There is
not a direct correlative relationship however most of these countries have extremely poor
rated economies. Especially number ten on the list being Sudan. However, the literature
does not take into account recent developments in the separation of the north and the
south; and their oil revenue. Therefore this is a limitation.

8. Figure 4 shows the equality in justice within each of the ten worst rated places for women.
Figure 5 shows the political stance and prosperity in relation to other countries of the ten
worst countries for women.
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2
RankingofJustice(Outof100)
The Ten Worst Ranked Places for Women
Fig4: The Ten Worst Places for Women Vs.
Justice Equality
Series1
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
RankinginEqualPolitics(Outof100)
Ten Worst Places for Women (Raked 1-10)
Fig5: Ten Worst Countries for Women Vs.
Ranking in Equal Politics
Series1

9. Table 3: The Ten Best Countries for Women
Ranking Overall
Ranking
Country Justice Health Education Economics Politics Additional
Defining
Characteristics
1 100 Iceland 100 90.5 96.7 88 92.8 Female Prime
Minister is a
feminist,
government
agency to ensure
women’s rights
2 99.2 Sweden 90.8 94.8 95.5 90.3 93.1 Parents allotted
16 months leave
with pay,
however DV
rates relatively
high
3 96.6 Canada 100 92.7 92 91 66.9 Government
lacks females
4 95.3 Denmark 86.1 94.9 97.6 88.5 78.4 GDP delegates
2% childcare
&78% females
have jobs out of
their home
5 92.8 Finland 80.2 91.4 91.3 86.8 100 First government
to grant women
right to vote in
1906
6 91.9 Switzerland 87.9 94.4 97.3 82.6 74.6 In 1971 granted
female vote
7 91.3 Norway 79.3 100 74 93.5 93.9 Outstanding
healthcare for
women
8 89.8 United
States
82.9 92.8 97.3 83.9 68.6 Is lagging with
poor
reproductive
healthcare,
access to and
family leave, but
offers good
education
9 88.2 Australia 80.7 93.3 93.9 85.3 65.1 Lead female
prime minister
but polls show
gender gap
10 87.7 Nether-
lands
74 95 99 83 68.4 Female pay is
still lagging
Discussion/Conclusion

10. The tables above serve to demonstrate qualities of both the worst and best places for women’s
equitable rights. It shows the five criteria for evaluating these rankings and this data can be used
to show how the negative and positive treatment of women, can dramatically yield results in
these aspects of a society’s well being as a whole. Further literature helps to support this notion.
In determining the root cause of domestic violence in different locations, as mentioned many
factors such as infidelity, drug or alcohol abuse, and childhood abuse, however some may occur
in one location and others not. There seems to be a commonality between the most reported
ones; being the issues within the current spousal relationship themselves and the methods used to
resolve the conflicts. The common thread in situations which result in domestic violence is the
existence of male versus female power structures and the need to maintain pride through
dominance; filling a socially constructed position of the head of the household and cultural
definition of male identity. Therefore, relationships that are comprised of these weaknesses in
trust, confusion of roles, and feelings of inability or threats to fully fulfill these gender roles
constructed by patriarchal, religious, and/or cultural institutions, result in abusing the observed
weaker gender to regain these lost feelings of empowerment. Hence, the factors that threaten the
power structure between a couple (independent variable), yields the increase in violence upon
female spouses (dependent variable). Specifically, patriarchal definitions of male identity
assume dominant positions not shared in the cases of matriarchal societies, and yield violence
upon female deviance resulting from challenging these male identities.
Patriarchal societies have “been described as ‘a relationship of dominance and subordinance....
sturdier than any form of segregation, and more rigorous than class stratifica-tion, more uniform,
certainly more enduring’, and more simply as ‘the systematic domination of women by men and
domination of men by other men’”. Marital relationships were always difficult to balance
healthily on account of primitive urges and behaviors of the majority of men being more
promiscuous than women, and majority of females desiring fulfillment of maternal instincts and
a monogamous male counterparts who offers optimal biological and financial characteristics fit
to ensure survival. Currently, all institutes of the world are selling commercialism, materialism,
politics, cultural values, and male and female identities for profit. On the other side, new
generaltions and technology are selling the redefining of gender identities and questioning power
structures all over the world. This increases the pressures to maintain these traditional power
structures which have existed for centuries. It then intensifies the tensions felt from
unmanageable emotions of both genders to accommodate and adaot to these ever changing
radical times. More often than not avoidance and dis-credation occurs in response to these
external influences threatening to change one’s culture, power structure, and essentially, identity.
Thus, exponentially increasing abuse results from this constant pull to maintain these man-made
structures which serve to benefit one side more than the other. As it has been said before, it is
much easier to grant someone or somewhere something, than to take something away from them.
tend to be patrilineal as well; following the lineage of the males, which places emphasis on
desiring a male aire, the male position in society and therefore a sense of being irreplacable.
Human

11. Although drug and alcohol use has been mentioned as factors to increase violence, it is not
necessarily a causal variable, for the majority of people do not resort to partner violence as a
response to the stimulation of consumption. Also, no studies were found to show a conditional
probability with these variables. This also holds true with factors like child abuse, which has
been an assumed inherent cause of wife battery. On the contrary however it was not as strong of
a correlation as patriarchal societies. This can be seen evidently as adults who were abused as
children do not necessarily abuse women they are with. Cultures including African American,
Spanish, Asian and of Arab decedents have cultural customs of physically disciplining their
progeny and the majority of these people do not resort to this method of conflict resolution.
There is more evidence to suggest that resorting to violence in reestablishing power and order to
achieve desired behaviors from wives, is rooted in these socially constructed ideals and the
internalization of these external pressures to maintain them. This is shown within the study in
Mozambique via services at the Maputo Central Hospital where married women were questioned
on their husband’s levels of coercion, threats, and controlling behavior, especially among
conditions of infidelity. It was noted that “controlling behaviour reflects a power structure
within the relationship, and has been shown to be significantly associated with higher likelihood
of use of violence [16], by men against women”. A more recent study among Ghana university
students “…showed that the frequency of use of controlling behaviours and
victimization/perpetration amongst men and women (e.g. control the other’s money) were
similar, and that controlling behaviours were a “predictor” of IPV” (“ ). Additionally it
reported that studies which investigated the relation between socio-economic status and abuse in
the cases of unemployment for example were conflicting, for at times the empowered women
would get abused as well. Other factors were examined in Sub-Saharan Africa such as a
woman’s child hood abuse; however there has not been studies which show a positive
association between child abuse and abuse experienced by husbands in adult years. The
Mozambique study concluded that “the combination psychological aggression, physical assault
and sexual coercion had the highest figures compared with the other combinations. The multiple
regressions showed that controlling behaviours, own perpetration and co-occurring victimization
were more important in “explaining” the experience of IPV than other variables (e.g. abuse as a
child)”. The study which found a clear increase in mortality rates among more patriarchal
societies concluded that male mortality is a “preventable social condition, which can potentially
be tackled through global social policy measures”. Violence against women is a global problem
that violates women’s human rights.
Limitations
There exists an obvious limitation within this topic for it is sensitive and personal for most
women to speak freely about. This is the reason why there is a large population that remains
unaccounted for in the statistics and studies; so many women feel they cannot and will not seek
help or tell the truth about their abuse. Also the fact that this phenomenon occurs across cultures
and various populations and demographics of women, the methods and sampling are not
consistent with those of the natural sciences that are performed the same universally. In the
western society, studies have historically been targeted towards white males; sampling a
homogenous subgroup which in turn skews the inferences made about a heterogeneous
population. To add, qualitative and quantitative methods have their own advantages and

12. disadvantages. Qualitative research acquires in depth information by using a small number of
participants to sample; not accounting for large amounts of people leaving it difficult to see if the
results are simply caused by the outliers of the population instead of the majority. On the other
hand, qualitative studies use large amounts of people yet lack in depth details that may change
the meanings of the results. However, this may be a strength within social research for to be as
objective as possible with subjects usually requires different methods to extract information.