Balance of Power, Domestic Violence, and Health Injuries: Evidence from Demographic and Health Survey of Nepal

A large literature has documented a complex and interdependent relationship between domestic violence, women empowerment, domestic risk factors, and violence-related health injuries. In this paper, we evaluate this relationship using data drawn from the Nepal Demographic and Health Survey, 2011. We simultaneously estimate the impact of women empowerment and domestic risk factors on domestic violence, and the impact of domestic violence on health consequences. Specifically, an IV ordered probit regression strategy is used, which addresses both the endogenous nature of domestic violence and the ordinal nature of health outcome variables. Our study finds evidence that it is not the autonomous power of women, but a cooperative decision-making environment in a marital relationship that reduces violence. Additionally, education decreases domestic violence and domestic risk factors, including alcohol and multiple unions exacerbate domestic violence. Finally, in terms of adverse health outcomes, we find that domestic violence has a non-linear impact on health injuries. At low levels of violence, the likelihood of injuries is low and injuries are generally not threatening, and as the level of violence increases, it considerably increases the probability of multiple and more serious health injuries.