Recent years have witnessed an increasing interest in violence against women, in particular domestic violence. Domestic violence against women is acknowledged worldwide as a violation of the basic human rights of women. Tolerance and experience of domestic violence form significant barriers to the empowerment of women and women’s autonomy in

all spheres of social life and have adverse consequences for women’s health, health-seeking behavior, and the health of their children. In the TDHS-2003, women were asked a number of questions on their attitudes regarding especially physical violence, which is one of the special

types of domestic violence, with regard to whether they viewed physical violence as justified under given circumstances.

Women were asked whether a husband would be justified in beating his wife for each of the following reasons separately: if she burns the food, if she argues with him, if she spends too much money, if she neglects the children, and if she refuses to have sex with him. Table 3.6 gives the percentages of ever-married women who agree with the specified reasons for

wife beating by background characteristics. Thirty-nine percent of women accept at least one reason as a justification for wife beating. Women are most likely to think that wife beating would be justified in cases when

the woman argues with the husband (29 percent), spends too much money (27 percent) and neglects the children (23 percent). Only 6 percent of women agree that wife beating would be justified if the woman burns the food. Younger women, currently married women, and women with high fertility are more likely than their counterparts to think that wife beating is

justified for at least one of the reasons.