Women’s attitude and reasons toward justifying domestic violence in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Domestic violence (DV) is a global public problem that touches all levels of society and socio-economic status. Identifying women's attitudes towards domestic violence is an important first step in the prevention and control of its consequence. Thus, this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed: (i) to synthesize women’s reasons for justifying domestic violence and (ii) to determine the pooled prevalence of women’s attitude towards domestic violence in Ethiopia.
Methods: Pub-Med and google scholar data bases searched for quantitative cross-sectional studies. The study quality was assessed with the Newcastle-Ottawa quality assessment tool. Heterogeneity test and evidence of publication bias were assessed. Pooled prevalence of women’s attitude was calculated with 95%CI using random effects model.
Results: A total of 15 articles were included in the study. The pooled prevalence of women’s attitude towards justifying domestic violence was found to be 57% (95% CI; 47.0%-67.2%). Reasons for justifying were: burning food, argues with husband, goes out without telling, neglects children, refuses sex, unfaithful, disobeys and suspects infidelity.
Conclusion: More than half of women accept domestic violence. Authors’ suggest strengthening of women’s awareness toward norms that justify wife beating.