Familial Power and Women's Contradictory Responses to Attitudinal Questions about Intimate Partner Violence in Rural Bangladesh

Kimi N. Sato, Emory University
Kathryn M. Yount, Emory University

Although the experience of intimate partner violence (IPV) has been linked to power distribution within a marriage, research has failed to examine how power processes can influence women’s reporting of their attitudes about IPV against women. This analysis is based on interviews from women collected from a study conducted in 2009 in Bangladesh. Aafke Komter’s theories on power dynamics were used to identify elements of latent power in the data. Overall, the majority of the women provided a contradictory response during the interview which suggests that women’s reporting of attitudes and preferences towards IPV against women and their willingness to contradict what they perceive to be the community norm is greatly influenced by the type of power under which they are influenced. Given the underlying nature of latent power processes, researchers need to be cognizant of how such processes can affect women’s reporting of personal attitudes about IPV against women.