Kinship and Locality: How Marital Traditions Affect Intimate Partner Violence

Researchers: Tara Bedi, Markus Goldstein, Michael King, Alejandra Ramos, and Julia Vaillant

Partners: Concern Worldwide, IPA Malawi.

Location: In the districts of Nsanje and Mangochi, Southern rural Malawi

Sample: 1,361 households

Timeline: 2018-2022

Theme: Intimate partner violence

Description:

In this project, we explore the effects of marriage practices associated with kinship and locality on intimate partner violence (IPV). We do so in the context of Southern rural Malawi, where there is a high prevalence of IPV and remarriage is a common phenomenon. We collect a panel dataset on 1,361 households including primary data on kinship, locality, marriage practices, and IPV. We propose an analytical framework that separates the effects of kinship and locality on IPV and structurally estimates the gains of marriage.