Bargaining or Backlash? Evidence on Intimate Partner Violence from the Dominican Republic

This essay explores the role of economic, political, and social factors in the incidence of intimate partner violence (IPV). It considers the extent to which two prominent theses on the determinants of IPV–(1) the household bargaining model (HBM), and (2) the male backlash model (MBM)–best explain this phenomenon in the case of the Dominican Republic. Drawing on the 2007 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS), which differentiates between physical and sexual IPV, results from logistic regressions reveal that the HBM better explains physical IPV, while the MBM better predicts sexual IPV. Further, the HBM does better accounting for IPV among wealthier women, while the MBM best explains IPV among poorer women. The findings suggest the need to reconsider broad programs and policies intended to prevent and ameliorate IPV in the Dominican Republic, and to implement targeted initiatives focusing on the economic factors motivating them.