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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

domestic violence, marital homogamy, global human rights

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

Sociology

Abstract

Introduction: Domestic violence is one of the most pressing global human rights issues of the 21st century. It is estimated that roughly half of the women killed globally in 2012 were killed by intimate partners or family members (U.N. Facts and Figures, 2012). In 2014, three in ten women in Egypt reported that they had experienced domestic violence during their lifetime and almost onefifth reported that they were the target of an episode of spousal violence in the past twelve months. More than one third of these women experiencing spousal physical or sexual violence were injured as a result of the violence, and in 2014, 7 percent had serious injuries. Of those who experienced violence, only a third sought help (Ministry of Health and Population, 2015). As such figures publicize the circumstance of women in Egypt and other countries, key global institutions and country leaders call for worldwide reform. In response, researchers aim to identify factors which serve as inhibitors of domestic violence. Much of the current research concludes that an increase in a wife’s status decreases the occurrence of domestic violence (Gibson, 2005; Schuiler, 1996; Monozea, 2005). To further address this issue, I examine how a woman’s relative status (in comparison to her husband’s status) is associated with domestic violence in Egypt – a country with high rates of family abuse.

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