Assessing the link between witnessing inter-parental violence and the perpetration of intimate partner violence in Bangladesh

BACKGROUND: We aimed to examine the influence of witnessing father-to-mother violence on: 1) perpetration of intimate partner violence (IPV); and 2) endorsement of attitudes justifying wife beating in Bangladesh. METHODS: This paper used data from the 2007 Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey. The analyses were based on the responses of 3374 ever-married men. Exposure to IPV was determined by men's self-reports of witnessing inter-parental violence in childhood. We used adjusted binary logistic regression models to assess the influence of exposure on husbands' perpetration of IPV and their endorsement of attitudes justifying wife beating. RESULTS: Nearly 60% of men reported violent behaviour towards an intimate partner and 35.7% endorsed attitudes justifying spousal abuse. Men who witnessed father-to-mother violence had higher odds of…