Demographic and Health Survey

Brief Description

Demographic and Health Survey 2007

This report summarizes the findings of 2007 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys (2007 BDHS) conducted under the authority of the National Institute for Population Research and Training (NIPORT) of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and implemented by Mitra and Associates of Dhaka. Macro International provided financial and technical assistance for the survey through USAID/Bangladesh.

Chapter 13 of the report on women's empowerment contains information on attitudes to wife beating. Chapter 14 of the report addresses domestic violence in detail.

Demographic and Health Survey 2009

The Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey conducted by the National Institute of Population Research and Training (NIPORT) in 2009 asked currently married men for information on violence against their wives. They were asked if they thought it was justified for a husband to beat his wife in the following four situations: if she goes out without telling him, if she neglects the children, if she argues with him and if she fails to provide food on time. Overall more than half (55 percent) of the men agreed that at least one of these factors is sufficient justification 97 for wife beating. The most widely accepted reason for wife beating is a wife going out without informing her husband.