Natural disasters and acceptance of intimate partner violence: the global evidence

Abstract This paper examines the dynamic impact of natural disasters on the individual acceptance of a physical form of intimate partner violence (IPV). Based on a global sample of individual survey data and historical geo-referenced records of natural disasters at a subnational level, we show that natural disasters have long-lasting effects on IPV acceptance, increasing it in the short- (0–4 years) and medium- (10–14 years) run. Furthermore, heterogeneity analyses reveal that lower-educated individuals are more affected than higher-educated individuals, men are more affected than women, and older cohorts are more affected than younger cohorts. There are no differences in the effects of disasters on IPV attitudes between individuals with high and low incomes. Drawing on theories of IPV, we also uncover that likely mechanisms that may link disasters to the increased acceptance of IPV are psychological distress and economic insecurity fears.