TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2016//
TI  - Gender-based violence and Christianity: Catholic prevention of divorce traps women in an abusive marriage
JO  - Psychology
A1  - Simister, John Gordon
A1  - Kowalewska, Grażyna
SP  - 1624
EP  - 1644
VL  - 7
IS  - 13
N2  - This paper reports evidence on Gender-Based Violence (GBV), violence against women by husband or male partner, based on household surveys from many countries. A woman's risk of experiencing domestic violence varies, within a country and between countries, for many reasons. This paper focuses on religion: in particular, comparing Catholics with Protestants. It reports evidence that Catholic women have a higher risk of GBV than Protestant women. A possible explanation for this higher risk is investigated: the ban on divorce by the Catholic Church. Household surveys confirm that Catholics are less likely than Protestants to divorce. Divorce is a possible escape-route for a woman abused by her husband; preventing divorce keeps many women trapped in marriage to a violent husband<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 2152-7180
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/psych.2016.713155
ID  - ref1
ER  -