Suzanna Khalifa

Internal seminars
phd seminar

Suzanna Khalifa

AMSE
The price of silence: Marriage transfers and women’s attitude toward intimate partner violence
Date(s)
Tuesday, April 28 2020| 11:00am to 11:45am
Contact(s)

Anushka Chawla: anushka.chawla[at]univ-amu.fr
Laura Sénécal: laura.senecal[at]univ-amu.fr
Carolina Ulloa Suarez: carolina.ulloa-suarez[at]univ-amu.fr

Abstract

This paper provides the first evidence about the relationship between marriage transfers and women’s opinion on intimate partner violence (IPV) in a Middle East-ern Country. In this region, the social structure is particularly imbued by patriarchal customs and domestic violence is largely widespread. In Jordan, to legally validate the marriage contract, the groom has to offer a traditional payment – the dower-to the bride. While this custom has been debated in the public opinion, the economic literature has not yet explored its effect on women. Using the 2016 Jordan Labor Market Survey, I estimate how women’s acceptance toward IPV is affected by the dower amount received at marriage. I find a positive and significant association robust to several alternative specifications, including an instrumental variable strategy. These results are supported by two interrelated mechanism. On one hand, the dower might act as a transaction purchasing women’s rights and imposing gen-der normative constraint on her expected behaviour. On the other hand, since the dower must be returned in case of divorce, a higher value might negatively affect woman’s outside options and increase her acceptance of intimate partner violence.

More information

Online seminar