Demographic and Health Survey 2009-10 - Timor-Leste Ministry of ...

16.14 Physical Violence by Women against Their Spouse
Violence by husbands against wives is not the only form of spousal violence; women may
sometimes be the perpetrators of violence. In most cultures, however, the level of spousal violence
initiated by wives is only a fraction of the level of spousal violence initiated by husbands. To measure
spousal violence by women, the 2009-10 TLDHS also asked women about violence they themselves
initiated against their spouse or other intimate partner. Specifically, women were asked: Have you
ever hit, slapped, kicked, or done anything else to physically hurt your (last) husband/partner at times
when he was not already beating or physically hurting you? Respondents who said yes to this
question were asked about the frequency of such violence in the 12 months preceding the survey.
Table 16.12 shows the percentage of ever-married women (excluding widows) who have ever
initiated violence against their current or most recent husbands and the percentage of all ever-married
women who say that they have initiated spousal violence in the 12 months preceding the survey.
Results shown indicate that overall, 6 percent of ever-married women report that they have ever
initiated physical violence against their current or most recent husbands, while 5 percent say that they
have committed such violence in the 12 months preceding the survey.
Differentials by background characteristics for women who initiate physical violence against
their current or most recent husbands are generally small. Women who reported experiencing physical
violence at the hands of their husbands in the past 12 months (13 percent), women whose husbands
get drunk sometimes (8 percent), and women in urban areas (8 percent) are more likely to initiate
physical violence against their husbands than other women.
Table 16.12 Violence by women against their spouse
Percentage of ever-married women age 15-49 who have committed physical violence
against their husband/partner when he was not already beating or physically hurting them
ever and in the past 12 months, according to women’s own experience of spousal violence
and their own and husband’s/partner’s characteristics, Timor-Leste 2009-10
Characteristic Ever
Percentage who have committed
physical violence against their
current or most recent
husband/partner
Number of
women
In the
past 12
months 1
Number of
women 1
Woman’s experience of spousal
physical violence
Ever 13.1 656 10.6 636
In the past 12 months 13.4 579 11.5 579
Not past 12 months/widow/missing 11.2 77 0.6 56
Never
Current age
1.7 1,303 1.5 1,254
15-19 10.4 67 7.6 67
20-24 7.1 271 7.2 267
25-29 7.4 341 5.8 335
30-39 4.9 729 3.9 706
40-49
Employed past 12 months
4.0 551 2.9 514
Not employed 6.2 1,094 4.9 1,076
Employed for cash 8.1 170 7.9 160
Employed not for cash
Number of living children
4.0 695 3.1 654
0 2.2 115 1.7 111
1-2 7.2 527 6.4 509
3-4 5.4 594 4.3 574
5+
Residence
5.0 724 3.8 696
Urban 8.2 468 5.9 455
Rural 4.7 1,491 4.1 1,434
Continued…
Domestic Violence | 243