The association between husband/partner’slevel of education and lifetime physicaldomestic violence against women agedbetween 15-49 years in Pakistan: Evidencefrom Pakistan Demography and HealthSurvey 2017-18

Abstract: Background Each year almost 1 in 3 (27%) of women (15-49y) worldwide experience lifetime physical and/or sexual domestic violence by their husbands/partners; that is almost 736 million women worldwide. According to the PDHS 2017-18, the prevalence of DV is 24% in Pakistan. The higher education level of the husband/partner in Pakistan might act as a protective factor against DV in women. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the association between the husband/partner's level of education and lifetime physical domestic violence against women. Method This quantitative cross-sectional study was based on the secondary data from Pakistan demographic health survey (PDHS) 2017-2018. The Woman's Questionnaire was used for the Data collection, and women (n = 3959) aged 30-49 in Pakistan were included. Descriptive analysis, crosstab chi-squared tests, and logistic regression analyses were performed to describe the background characteristics of the sample and evaluate the association between exposure and outcome of interest.    Results Almost 24% of the women aged 15-49 have experienced lifetime physical domestic violence by their husbands/partners. In addition, 34% of the husbands/partner had secondary education. A secondary education level lowers the odds of physical domestic violence against women (OR=0.65, CI=0.54-0.77).   Conclusion The association between the husband/partner's level of education and lifetime physical domestic violence against women was established in this study. However, improving the husband/partner’s education level might contribute to eradicating DV against women.