EL PROBLEMA DEL CONOCIMIENTO Y FILOSOFÍA DE LA EDUCACIÓN Justificación

Women’s attitudes towards gender roles

The data in Table 6.1 and Figure 6.1 show that the majority of women in Tonga agreed with statements indicating that men are the decision makers in the family, that women have to obey their husbands and that they cannot refuse sex.

Overwhelmingly 83% of women said that they agree with the statement “a good wife obeys her husband even if she disagrees”. Across the regions and the age groups, the percentage of women who consider that a good wife should obey her husband was similar. In terms of attitudes by educational level, women with a primary and/or secondary education were somewhat more likely to agree with the statement compared to women with a tertiary education.

Slightly lower levels (64%) but similar trends are found for the statement, “A man should show he is the boss”.

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It was striking also that 6 out of 10 women agreed with the statement that a “wife is obliged to have sex with her husband”. There was no differentiation in answers between women with tertiary education and those with less education.

These findings are of concern and great importance because they indicate that the subordinate status of women within the marital relationship is generally accepted by women themselves.

The citation below is an example of the decision-making power of the male head of the family; in this case the father in-law of the respondent.

‘My husband’s parents are divorced and we live with my husband’s mother and his brothers and sisters but the father is remarried. I was shocked when I first discovered that every Sunday, my sister-in-law and her children would always take him food. Not only that my father-in-law is still in charge of my husband’s mother and the family. All the decisions about the family are still made by him and he comes home once a month to have a family meeting.’

Woman, Talanoa, Tongatapu

Women’s attitudes around justifications for a man to beat his wife

To explore women’s attitudes towards physical partner violence and whether such behaviour is a norm, a series of questions was designed to identify situations under which respondents considered it acceptable for a man to hit or mistreat his wife.

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Table 6.2 and Figure 6.2 show the percentages of women who believe that a man has the right to beat his wife under the following circumstances: if she does not complete her housework (7% of the respondents); if his wife disobeys him (17%); if his wife refuses sex (8%); if his wife asks about his girlfriends (11%); if the husbands suspects that his wife is unfaithful (33%); if the husband finds out that his wife is unfaithful (56%) and if his wife is unable to get pregnant (3%). The variation in these percentages shows that women find some reasons more valid for being beaten than others.

Where we saw earlier that women with different educational levels had relatively similar gender attitudes, this is not the case with their attitudes towards violence. For all circumstances that were presented, women with tertiary or higher education were less likely to agree that it was a justification for a man to beat his wife.

The women’s answers reflect the moral beliefs of Tongan women on the values of a good relationship between a wife and a husband. These results support the notion that even though women strongly believe that their husband is the head of the household, this does not always give him the right to hit, and applies in the following circumstances: if she is unable to get pregnant; refuses sex; disobeys him; does not complete the house work; and asks about his girlfriends. It further supports the belief that most women love and respect their husbands and they expect this to be reciprocated. However, the majority of women agreed that the husband has a right to hit her if she is unfaithful.

Women’s attitudes around reasons for a wife to refuse sex with her husband

(Table 6.3 and Figure 6.3.) In the survey women were asked if they believed that a woman has the right to refuse sex with her husband in a number of situations: if she does not want to; if her husband is drunk; if she is sick; and if he mistreats her. Interestingly between 73% and 83% of women believed that a wife had the right to refuse sex if the husband is drunk, if she is sick or if he mistreats her. Fewer women agreed with the statement that a wife can

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refuse sex if she does not want to (61%). For these questions that examine sexual autonomy there was no significant difference between regions, age groups and educational levels.

Associations between attitudes and partner violence

(Table 6.4.) The results about several of the afore mentioned attitudes were analyzed further to determine any difference in attitudes between women who have experienced physical or sexual partner violence and women who have never experienced partner violence.

Women who have experienced physical or sexual violence are significantly more likely to agree with the statement, “The wife is obliged to have sex with the husband”: 67% compared to 58% for those who have not experienced violence. For the statements “a good wife obeys her husband even if she disagrees”, “a man should show he is the boss”, and “a man is justified to beat his wife if he suspects she is unfaithful”, there was no significant difference between women with or without experience of violence. This indicates that expectations around male dominance are widespread in Tongan society, reflecting a generalized societal attitude rather than normalization of violent behaviour by women who experience violence.