How Childhood Exposure to the Eritrean-Ethiopian War Affected Intimate Partner Violence

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is common in war-torn areas. However, few studies have examined the relationship between childhood exposure to armed conflict and IPV. This paper examines how childhood exposure to the Eritrean–Ethiopian War affected attitudes towards and experiences of IPV against women. For attitudes towards IPV, I examine the extent to which women are willing to tolerate IPV and in what circumstances men believe it is justified. For experiences of IPV, I investigate whether childhood exposure to armed conflict made men more likely to perpetrate IPV and exhibit controlling behaviours in their intimate relationship. I exploit the war’s variation across cohorts and geography to investigate this topic. I find that men exposed to armed conflict as a child are more likely to justify IPV against their wife or partner. I also find that males fully exposed to the war in adolescence (12–18) are more likely to perpetrate IPV by 0.226 standard deviations compared to other periods in childhood. Furthermore, the paper finds that female childhood exposure to the war did not affect their tolerance for IPV. This paper adds to the small literature that identifies groups at risk of perpetrating IPV, which helps policymakers design early-intervention policies.