The Role of Gender Norms on Intimate Partner Violence Among Newly Married Adolescent Girls and Young Women in India: A Longitudinal Multilevel Analysis

Gender norms have been posited to impact intimate partner violence (IPV), but there is scant evidence of the longitudinal association between community-level gender norms and IPV. Using longitudinal data on 3,965 married girls surveyed in India, we fitted mixed-effects ordinal and binary logistic regression models for physical IPV intensity and occurrence of sexual IPV. We found a 26% increase in the odds that women experience frequent physical IPV per one unit increase in greater community-level equitable gender norms. We did not find an association between community-level equitable gender norms and sexual IPV. Findings suggest that the relationship between gender norms and physical and sexual IPV differs, indicating the need for tailored interventions for different types of IPV.

Automated summary

This study found that an increase in community-level equitable gender norms is associated with a higher likelihood of experiencing frequent physical IPV, but is not associated with sexual IPV. The results suggest the need for tailored interventions for different types of IPV.