Patwardhan Publishes in International Journal for Equity in Health on Examining the Association Between Structural-Level Patriarchy and Intimate Partner Violence
Posted: 2026-09-17 12:10:57 ()
CSDE Affiliate Vedavati Patwardhan (Evans School Policy Analysis and Research Group) and her co-authors recently published a research article in the International Journal for Equity in Health titled, “Examining the Association Between Structural-Level Patriarchy and Intimate Partner Violence: Evidence from India’s National Demographic and Health Survey.” Dr. Patwardhan and her co-authors examined whether structural patriarchy at the district level is associated with intimate partner violence (IPV) against women in India, using mixed-effects logistic regression. Unlike prior research that often uses individual-level proxies for patriarchy, they use a validated structural patriarchy index to nationally representative data from NFHS-5 (61,180 women aged 18-49). They find a positive relationship between structural patriarchy and IPV, even after accounting for caste, religion, wealth, gender attitudes and behaviors, and sociodemographic characteristics. Women living in districts with the highest levels of structural patriarchy had nearly twice the odds of reporting IPV compared with women in districts with lower levels (aOR = 1.92; 95% CI: 1.58–2.34). Structural patriarchy is an important contextual determinant of IPV that cannot be adequately captured through individual-level measures alone. IPV prevention in India should combine district-level interventions and indicators with individual- and couple-level gender-norms programming, particularly within national health and rights initiatives. To read the full research article, visit this link.