Influence of Education, Work, and Conflicts on Domestic Abuse Attitudes: A Case Study Demonstrating Data Interoperability in Eastern Africa

Sula Sarkar, University of Minnesota

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals agenda proposes 17 goals and 169 targets emphasizing the need for different kinds of data and information from varying sources and at different geographical scales ranging from national to local. This paper uses data available from various sources at different geographical scales and demonstrates challenges with data interoperability. We study whether educational attainment, along with employment rates, and violence and conflicts in the region influence domestic abuse attitudes in women of child-bearing age. Education attainment and employment is measured using census microdata, domestic violence perceptions and the spatial location of respondents are available from Demographic Health Surveys, and fatalities and violence locations data are available from Armed Conflict Location and Event Data. For the purposes of this abstract, we display results from Kenya (circa 2009) and conclude that high education completion rates are not necessary areas where women's perception to wife beating is justified.