2015 APHA Annual Meeting & Expo

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Online Program

335955
Media campaigns combating violence against women: Lessons and policy implications based on a nationally representative population survey


Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Syeda Jesmin, PhD, MPH, Sociology, University of North Texas at Dallas, Dallas, TX
Iftekhar Amin, Ph.D., Conseling and Human Services, University of North Texas at Dallas, Dallas, TX
Background:Violence against women (VAW) is a global public health burden. The lifetime burden of VAW is significantly high in the low-income countries where nearly 3 in 4 women experience violence. To change gender inequitable norms that are deeply rooted in society and contribute to normalization and trivialization of VAW, many prevention programs have been using mass media. To date there has been no nationally representative studies examining the influence of media on perceptions of VAW among the general population.

Methods: Data came from the 2011 Bangladesh Demographic Health Surveys that completed 17,842 interviews with ever-married women under age 50. An index assessing gender equitable norms was created based on five questions that asked married women about their opinion on whether a husband is justified in hitting the wife in five different scenarios. The predictor variables were indices of media exposure: TV, radio, newspaper, and a combined index the three media.

Results: Results of logistic regressions showed that among these three media, only consumption of TV had significant influence on one’s perception of gender equitable norms. Women with greater exposure to TV were more likely to reject VAW (p<.05). In all the models estimated, being older, having secondary or higher education, being non-Muslim, greater household wealth, and having greater autonomy were significantly associated with greater support for equitable gender norms.

Conclusions: It is cost-effective and especially important to develop and broadcast entertainment-education programs on TV as it is the most efficient among all three media in influencing attitudes towards VAW.

Learning Areas:

Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs

Learning Objectives:
Describe media campaign combating violence against women (VAW) in developing countries Explain the role of media in shaping women’s attitudes toward VAW Design gender-based violence prevention programs for women in low-income settings

Keyword(s): Gender, International Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a medical sociologist/social epidemiologist with a primary research interest in women’s health, particularly women’s reproductive and sexual health in the developing countries. I hold an M.P.H. in Public Health and a Ph.D. in Medical Sociology. My work has appeared in many peer-reviewed journals. I have been presnting at the APHA annual mettings for the last several years.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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