Association Between Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and Women’s Attitudes Toward Intimate Partner Violence: Evidence from Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2017–2018

Abstract

Many women justify intimate partner violence (IPV), resulting in adverse health outcomes. This study investigates the relationship between household ownership of information and communication technologies (ICTs), along with the frequency of listening to the radio and watching television with women’s attitudes towards IPV in Bangladesh. The cross-sectional study analyzed a weighted sample of 20,032 women and used a multivariable logistic regression analysis to determine the association between predictor variables and outcome variables. The results showed that 19.47% of women justified wife beating for at least one reason. We found that household ownership of computers (AOR = 0.73 [95% CI = 0.57, 0.95]), women in households with three ICTs (AOR = 0.67 [95% CI = 0.47, 0.96]), and women who watched television at least once a week (AOR = 0.85 [95% CI = 0.74, 0.97]) were associated with decreased odds of justifying wife beating for at least one reason after adjustment for the frequency of reading newspaper or magazine, age, wealth, education, religion, and type of place of residence. The study suggests that not all ICTs affect women’s attitudes toward IPV equally. Computers and television were more influential than other ICTs. This finding suggests that awareness-building and educational programs targeted towards women via computer and television may deliver better outcomes about gender norms.

Keywords

• intimate partner violence
• information and communication technologies
• women’s health
• public health
• Bangladesh
• BDHS