Malawi 2015-16

• Women’s experience of sexual violence varies by their employment status. About one-fourth of
employed women (23%-25%) report sexual violence compared with 13% of women who are not
employed.
• Experience of sexual violence declines with wealth but varies non-linearly with women’s education.
Nonetheless, women with more than secondary education (13%) are less likely to experience sexual
violence than women with no or only primary education (19% and 23%, respectively).
17.3.2 Perpetrators of Sexual Violence
Among ever-married women age 15-49 who have experienced sexual violence, 63% reported the current
husband and 31% reported a former husband as perpetrators of the sexual violence. Five percent of evermarried
women mentioned strangers as perpetrators of sexual violence. Among never married women, a
current or former boyfriend is the most common perpetrator (38%), followed by a stranger (22%) and a
friend or acquaintance (18%) (Table 17.6).
17.4 EXPERIENCE OF DIFFERENT FORMS OF VIOLENCE
Physical violence and sexual violence may not occur in isolation; rather, women may experience a
combination of different forms of violence. Twenty-one percent of women have experienced physical
violence only, 7% have experienced sexual violence only, and 13% have experienced both physical and
sexual violence. Overall, 41% of women age 15-49 in Malawi have experienced either physical or sexual
violence (Table 17.7).
17.5 MARITAL CONTROL BY HUSBAND
Marital control
Percentage of women whose current husband (if currently married) or most
recent husband (if formerly married) demonstrates at least one of the following
controlling behaviours: is jealous or angry if she talks to other men; frequently
accuses her of being unfaithful; does not permit her to meet her female friends;
tries to limit her contact with her family; and insists on knowing where she is at
all times.
Sample: Ever-married women age 15-49
Attempts by husbands to closely control and monitor their wives’ behaviour are important early warning
signs and correlates of violence in a relationship. Because the concentration of behaviours is more
significant than the display of any single behaviour, the proportion of women whose husbands display at
least three of the specified behaviours is also discussed.
Sixty percent of ever-married women report that their husband insists on knowing where they are at all
times, 50% report that he is jealous or angry if they talk with other men, 24% report that he frequently
accuses them of being unfaithful, 13% report that he does not permit them to meet their female friends, and
11% report that he tries to limit their contact with their families. Overall, 24% of ever-married women
report that their husband displays three or more of the specified behaviours, and 29% say that he displays
none of them (Table 17.8).
Patterns by background characteristics
• Women’s report of their husband’s controlling behaviours varies by religion. Overall, ever-married
women whose husbands display at least three of the specified behaviours ranges from a high of 26%
for Catholic women to a low of 17% for women categorized as being of “other” Christian faiths
(Table 17.8).
Domestic Violence • 283