Table 39: A wife should never hit her husband under any circumstances, by
gender
Total
Male
Female
Strongly agree
57.31%
60.16%
55.82%
Agree
19.62%
12.76%
23.14%
Neither agree nor disagree
3.09%
5.21%
1.96%
Disagree
11.90%
14.58%
10.52%
Strongly disagree
3.00%
2.86%
3.09%
RF
0.73%
0.26%
0.98%
DK/NA
4.36%
4.17%
4.49%
When comparison was made between the two
scenarios, the percentage of respondents who
believed that a man can hit his wife was higher
compared to those who believed that a woman
can hit her husband, in all 8 circumstances. The
percentage of respondents who believed that a
husband can hit his wife if she goes against Islam
was higher (26.8%) compared to the percentage of
respondents who believed that a wife can hit her
husband if he goes against Islam (16.6%) Similarly,
respondents who believed that a husband can hit
his wife if she disobeys him (12.3%) was more
compared to respondents who believed that a
woman can hit her husband he disobeys her (4.0%)
Table 40: Justification for a married man/woman hitting wife/husband
Yes
No
Yes
No
She
does not
complete
her
housework
to his
satisfaction
4.54%
89.55%
She
disobeys
him
12.35%
She refuses
to have sex
with him
Diff in
%
He does not
complete
housework
to her
satisfaction
0.03%
88.65%
80.74%
He disobeys
her
3.99%
86.92%
8.36%
7.54%
85.20%
He refuses
to have sex
with her
4.36%
86.47%
3.18%
She asks
him
whether he
has other
girl‐friends
5.63%
87.65%
He asks her
whether she
has other
boy‐friends
3.36%
87.83%
2.27%
He
suspects
that she is
unfaithful
6.63%
87.01%
She suspects
that he is
unfaithful
4.00%
86.83%
2.63%
He finds
out that
she has
been
unfaithful
12.26%
80.11%
She finds
out that he
has been
unfaithful
7.17%
83.47%
5.09%
She goes
against
Islam?
26.79%
64.94%
He goes
against
Islam?
16.62%
72.76%
10.17%
She
beats the
children
12.08%
80.47%
He beats the
children
9.27%
80.93%
2.81%
4.51%
A MARRIED MAN/WOMAN CAN REFUSE TO
HAVE SEX WITH HIS WIFE/HER HUSBAND
Respondents were divided in their stand on
whether a married woman can refuse to have sex
with her husband if she wants to. While 42.3% of
the people said a woman cannot refuse, slightly
more people, 47.7% were of the opinion that a
married woman has the right to refuse sex.
Interestingly, more women were of the opinion
that a married woman (47.3%) cannot refuse
sex think if she does not feel like it as opposed
to men (48.4.0%).
Table 41: A married woman cannot refuse to have sex with her husband,
by gender
Male
Female
2005
2011
2019
2005
2011
2019
Yes
68.2%
42.2%
48.44%
59.8%
44.6%
47.27%
No
27.9%
44.9%
13.02%
36.1%
49.5%
44.74%
RF/DK/NA
3.9%
12.9%
13.54%
4.1%
5.9%
7.99%
There were regional differences in the response to
this statement where more respondents from outer islands thought a married woman cannot refuse
sex with her husband even if she does not feel like it
(45.2%) while 37.7% of those from the urban regions
subscribed to this viewpoint. People in the 20-29
age group recorded the highest percentile (55.0%)
in affirming the stand that married women can refuse sex with her husband if she does not feel like it.
There were no significant differences observed between other age groups.
The relationship was reversed, and when
respondents were asked whether a man can
refuse to have sex with his wife if he doesn’t feel
like it, more than half of the respondents said
he can refuse (54.9%). There was no significant
difference between sexes in their opinions.
However, there were significant regional
disparities. More respondents from urban
regions (64.9%) stated that the husband can
refuse sex if he does not want to, compared to
48.6% from outer islands.
Most of the respondents agreed that a woman
can refuse sex with her husband if he is
intoxicated (70.2%). No significant differences
were observed between sexes in response to
the aforementioned. Nevertheless, a higher
number of respondents from urban regions
(81.8%) compared to outer islands (63.0%),
said a woman can refuse sex with an inebriated
husband.
35