Causes of Domestic Violence Against Women Through the Lenses of Young Kuwaiti Adults

Domestic violence (DV) against women continues to be a multifaceted social problem that is hard, if not impossible, to achieve agreement on its causes, solutions, or ways of prevention with both professionals and the public alike. Accordingly, this study aims to explore young Kuwaiti adults’ beliefs about the causes of DV against women by examining how interactions among individual, relationship, and societal factors can shape beliefs and their possible ties and correlations with sociodemographic characteristics. A nonprobability voluntary sample of 913 male and female students from Kuwait University completed an electronic survey reporting their beliefs about the causes of DV against women. We used independent-samples t -tests, correlations, and one-way ANOVA to compare dependent and independent variables across groups. We found that participants think about the causes of DV in terms of individual and relationship factors, not as a problem rooted in society or culture. Over half of the participants believe that some women’s actions justify their abuse, and gender, cultural background, religion, and history of DV significantly correlate with respondents’ perceptions. Strengthening law enforcement, promoting public awareness, designing culturally sensitive and reflective intervention and prevention programs, and educational programs on gender equality can help combat DV against women and support survivors in their journey to recovery.