Men's arrack drinking and domestic violence against women in a Bangladesh village.
Arrack, indigenously made and known as tari, is a widely-used alcoholic beverage among poor drinkers in rural Bangladesh. This study examines the influences of men's arrack drinking habits on violence against women at the family level in Parbattipur, a typical village of northwest Bangladesh. Fifty purposively-selected married male arrack drinkers as well as their wives were interviewed singly by using a semi-structured questionnaire. Results show that arrack drinkers suffer from behavioral abnormalities. It creates family problems and women are often victimized by their husbands' drunken behaviors. Although violence against women is a common phenomenon in rural Bangladesh, it is argued that men's habitual arrack drinking behaviors, through the interplay of a patriarchal family structure, are directly linked with incidences of violence against women within marriage.
Rabiul Karim
K M
KM
Department of Social Work, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh. rkarimsw@yahoo.com
D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001459:Bangladesh / Q000453:epidemiology; D003906:Developing Countries; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011203:Poverty; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*