The Relationship of Domestic Violence and Spousal Control with Female Voter Participation in Pakistan

Since its inception, Pakistan has operated under a strong patriarchal system which has a hold over the public and private lives of all women – regardless of their age, class, or location. This paper explores the challenges Pakistani women face in the intersection between their private and public life – between their marital relations and their voting choices. Although some attention has been paid to female experiences of domestic violence in Pakistan, there is a gap in literature in regards to how domestic violence and spousal control impact a woman’s ability and choice to vote. By using survey data collected from 400 married women in Pakistan, this paper employs two list experiments in order to test the prevalence of domestic violence and spousal control, and their impact on voting behaviour. Demographic information collected from the respondents is used to find significant relationships between the sensitive behaviours and respondent characteristics. The paper does not find significant proof for the prevalence of domestic violence or spousal control, or their relationship with women going out to vote. However, an important contribution and finding of the paper is that women who marry later in their lives may experience spousal control, where their husband prohibits them from voting.

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