Women’s Empowerment and Physical Intimate Partner Violence in Jordan: Evidence from a Nationally Representative Survey

Intimate partner violence (IPV) remains an important public health and human rights concern. Women’s empowerment may reduce vulnerability to violence. Nonetheless, its relationship with IPV can vary across cultural, social, and economic contexts. This study examined the association between indicators of women’s empowerment and physical IPV among married women in Jordan. We analyzed data from the nationally representative 2023 Jordan Population and Family Health Survey. The analysis included 5495 ever-married women aged 15–49 years with information on physical IPV. Empowerment indicators included control over earnings, participation in household decision-making, asset ownership, and ownership of financial accounts. Weighted descriptive analyses and logistic regression were used to examine factors associated with physical IPV. Overall, 10.2% of women reported physical IPV. In the unadjusted analysis, women who independently decided how to use their earnings had higher odds of physical IPV than women who made this decision jointly with their husband or partner. Most other empowerment indicators were not significantly associated with physical IPV in the unadjusted analyses. In the adjusted model, education, household wealth, age, and region were significantly associated with physical IPV. Women with secondary or lower education had higher odds of physical IPV than women with more than secondary education. Women in poorer households also had higher odds than those in the richest households. Higher odds were observed among women aged 35–39 years and among women living in the Central region. Physical IPV among women in Jordan was associated with several socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. Among the empowerment indicators examined, most were not significantly associated with physical IPV in the unadjusted analyses. IPV prevention programs should take into account women’s broader social and economic circumstances and should not rely on individual measures of empowerment alone.