Partner Violence in Cambodia: Examining Tolerance and Incidence

Maryann Bylander, University of Texas at Austin
Tricia S. Ryan, University of Texas at Austin

This paper examines the relationship between experience of and tolerance for partner violence in Cambodia among ever-married women age 15-49. Controlling for socio-demographic variables, we compare the risk factors that make women more likely to (1) report experience(s) of partner violence and (2) report high tolerance for partner violence. Current research on domestic violence discusses measures of tolerance as an indication of the social environment and a potential risk factor for incidence of domestic violence. Using data from the 2000 Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey (CDHS), we employ logistic regression to compare individual- and community-level risk factors for tolerance and experience of partner violence. Comparison of these two models illuminates the links between tolerance and incidence. We find that tolerance is not significantly related to experience of violence. Tolerance is generally predicted by women’s social capital, and incidence is more clearly related to socio-demographic and economic variables.