Female autonomy in household decision-making and intimate partner violence: Evidence from Pakistan
The aim of this study is to explore the links between female autonomy in household decision-making and intimate partner violence in a highly relevant yet under-studied context: Pakistan.
Using a nationally representative dataset, and employing matching and partial identification estimation approaches, we show that an increase in female autonomy in household decision-making is associated with a decrease in the probability of experiencing intimate partner violence.
Moreover, female autonomy is also associated with lower tolerance for intimate partner violence.
Our results call for a greater focus on female autonomy in policy efforts concerned with reducing intimate partner violence.