BACKGROUND

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a pervasive public health issue affecting women worldwide. Attitudes about the acceptability of IPV are correlated with IPV perpetration, experience, and help-seeking; therefore, monitoring trends in attitudes is an important way to track progress towards gender equality. This study presents the most comprehensive assessment of global trends in IPV acceptance to date.

METHODS

Using population-based surveys including 4.37 million women and 1.22 million men across 83 countries (1999-2022), we modeled average yearly changes in the percentage of women and men with permissive IPV attitudes at the country, world region, and global levels, as well as by age group (≤25 and > 25 years).

FINDINGS

Broad variation in the acceptability of IPV was observed in men's (range = 2%-85%) and women's attitudes (range = 2%-92%) across countries. Women tended to be more accepting than men at both earlier and more recent timepoints. On average, the percentage of individuals responding that IPV was acceptable in at least one circumstance decreased significantly over time for men (3.79% [-5.02%, -2.57%]/year) and women (6.80% [-7.83%, -5.77%]/year), with no substantive differences by age group.

INTERPRETATION

The acceptability of IPV has declined substantially in the last 20 years, especially among women. Heterogeneity in changes in IPV-related attitudes across countries suggests that pooled estimates should be interpreted cautiously and that national or subnational trends may be more informative. Future research should investigate specific country- and local-level factors that may be driving changes in IPV-supportive attitudes.

FUNDING

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (5R00HD104896).