gms | German Medical Science

Background: Violence by intimate partner occurs in every country and society. However, in many developing countries the problem is aggravated by its wide cultural acceptance.

Objective: To investigate attitudes towards wife beating among women in Palestine and their determinants.

Method: A cross-sectional study of 450 women of reproductive age (15-49 years) was conducted in three regions in West Bank Palestine (Jenin, Ramallah, Hebron). Women were asked about their attitudes towards wife beating in six situations. If all answers were “no”, women were classified as rejecting wife beating, if any of the answers was “yes” women were classified as accepting beating.

Results: 64.7 % of women in Palestine believed that wife beating was justified in at least one of the six situations. Respondents were most likely to find wife beating justified if a wife “insults her husband” (59.3%), “disobeys her husband” (49.3%), or “neglects her children” (36.9%), less accepted was beating in situations when the wife “goes out without telling him” (25.3%), “argues with him” (10.7 %) or” burns the food” (5.1 %). There was a significant difference between the three regions with a higher acceptance of wife beating in Jenin. Acceptance of violence was higher when women were less educated or were unemployed.

Conclusions: Although there are, some differences in what reasons are seen as acceptable to justify it, domestic violence is widely accepted in Palestine. Better education and employment of women might increase their rejection of domestic violence.