Resources, Family Organization, and Domestic Violence Against Married Women in Minya, Egypt

Kathryn M. Yount, Emory University

I evaluate the influence of household wealth, women’s socioeconomic dependency, status inconsistency, and family organization on physical abuse in the prior year and attitudes about wife abuse and divorce among 2,522 married women in Minya, Egypt. Household wealth is negatively associated with physical abuse. Women who are dependent on marriage because they have sons and less schooling than their husband are more likely to have experienced physical abuse and to report marginally more tolerance for such abuse. Women who are isolated from natal or biological kin and are living with marital relatives are more likely to have experienced physical abuse. Findings underscore the role of women’s dependency and social isolation in enabling physical abuse among women of all economic classes.