Women’s self-employment, business acumen, and emotional IPV: a longitudinal study in Tanzania

Emotional intimate partner violence (IPV) is the most prevalent form of IPV and is associated with severe health consequences for women. Despite its widespread occurrence, emotional IPV remains under-researched, particularly in relation to women’s economic empowerment. While prior studies have examined the role of cash transfers and microfinance, less is known about the possible protective effects of self-employment and business acumen on emotional IPV. Using data from the MAISHA longitudinal study, we examined how indicators of business acumen - including business ownership, leadership, working hours, and reinvestment of earnings - relate to women’s experiences of emotional IPV, measured via a composite index in Mwanza, Tanzania. In a mixed‑effects logistic regression model, we include business acumen and emotional IPV measures at each of four waves (N = 1,004 at Wave 1 & N = 836 (83%) at Wave 4), adjusting for sociodemographic covariates. Across all waves, approximately 80% of economically active women were self-employed. Emotional IPV was commonly reported, with an increasing trend over time, rising from 44.8% at Wave 1 to 52.7% at Wave 4. The intra-class correlation (ICC) of 35% indicated stability in IPV experiences between women, while 65% reflects within-woman variability over time. In adjusted models, women who held leadership roles within their businesses (AOR = 0.69; 95% CI: 0.49–0.97) and those who reinvested earnings (AOR = 0.66; 95% CI: 0.53–0.82) had significantly lower odds of experiencing emotional IPV. Findings suggest that among self-employed women, business leadership and financial reinvestment may serve as protective factors against emotional IPV. Enhancing women’s business capacity may strengthen their agency and reduce IPV risk in contexts with high female labour force participation.