Lineage Heterogamy and Intimate Partner Violence Among Women in Ghana

This study examined heterogamies based on lineage and their relationship with intimate partner violence (IPV) in Ghana. We used nationally representative cross-sectional data collected in 2017 from 1,789 women aged 18 years and older to build random-effect logit models and examine this relationship. We hypothesized that women in heterogamous unions based on lineage are more likely to experience IPV than those in homogamous unions. Our findings provided weak to no support for the hypothesis. The heterogamy hypothesis held partially for sexual, psychological, and economic violence: patrilineal women married to matrilineal partners were more likely to experience sexual, psychological, and economic violence than matrilineal women with matrilineal partners until their relationship dynamics were controlled. This means variations in IPV between homogamous and heterogamous couples were largely spurious. The biggest and most significant differences were found for homogamous couples. Unlike heterogamous couples, differences in the IPV experiences of homogamous couples persisted after accounting for their socioeconomic characteristics and relationship dynamics. Specifically, patrilineal women with patrilineal male partners were significantly more likely to experience sexual, psychological, and economic violence than matrilineal women with matrilineal male partners. We conclude there is a complex relationship between lineage, socioeconomic status, and other relationship factors in Ghanaian women's vulnerability to IPV.