Violence against women has distinct gendered drivers. Evidence points to four factors that most consistently predict or ‘drive’ violence against women and explain its gendered patterns.
Driver 1: Condoning of violence against women
When societies, institutions or communities support or condone violence against women, levels of such violence are higher. Individual men who hold these beliefs are more likely to perpetrate violence against women.
Driver 2: Men’s control of decision-making and limits to women’s independence in public and private life
Violence is more common in relationships in which men control decision-making and limit women’s autonomy, have a sense of ownership of or entitlement to women, and hold rigid ideas on acceptable female behaviour.
Constraints on women’s independence and access to decision-making are also evident in the public sphere, where men have greater control over power and resources.
Driver 3: Rigid gender stereotyping and dominant forms of masculinity
Promoting and enforcing rigid and hierarchical gender stereotypes reproduces the social conditions of gender inequality that underpin violence against women. In particular, stereotypes of masculinity play a direct role in driving men’s violence against women.
Driver 4: Male peer relations and cultures of masculinity that emphasise aggression, dominance and control
Male peer relationships (both personal and professional) that are characterised by attitudes, behaviours or norms regarding masculinity that centre on aggression, dominance, control or hypersexuality are associated with violence against women.
