A recent survey has revealed that 43 percent of women aged between 15-49 believe that a husband is justified in physically assaulting his wife under certain circumstances, citing at least eight specific reasons.
According to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS) report, the eight reasons include if the wife burns the food, argues with her husband, refuses to cook, goes out without informing him, returns home late, neglects the children, is unfaithful, or declines to engage in sexual relations with him.
The survey findings also established that the acceptance of wife beating is more prevalent in rural areas, with 51% of respondents agreeing with it, compared to urban areas where the agreement rate was 30%.
Furthermore, 35% of men who participated in the survey expressed agreement with wife beating. Among them, 40% were from rural areas and 26% were from urban areas.
The level of education, the survey showed, was a factor in determining the responses given by the respondents noting that 70 percent of women and 59 percent of men with no education agreed with wife beating while 19 percent of women and 21 percent of men with more than secondary education agreed with the same.
“For both women and men, acceptance of beating decreases with the wealth quintile, with 63% of women and 52% of men in the highest wealth quintile agreeing with wife beating compared with 24% of women and 21% of men in the lowest wealth quintile,” part of the survey read.
The study found that the percentage who agree with at least one specified reason justifying a husband beating his wife is highest among women in Turkana (84%), Marsabit (82%), and Wajir (78%) counties and is highest among men in Isiolo (80%), West Pokot (71%), and Mandera (70%).
