Nairobi — A recent survey has revealed that 43 percent of Kenyans believe that a husband is justified in beating his wife for among other things burning food and arguing with him.

According to the study by the Kenya Demographic Health Survey 2022, those interviewed believed that a woman should further be beaten if she refuses to cook, goes out without telling him, comes home late, neglects the children, is unfaithful, and refuses to have sex with him.

The report further indicated that wife beating is higher in rural areas than in urban areas with 51 percent and 30 percent.

"For both women and men, acceptance of beating decreases with the wealth quintile, with 63% of women and 52% of men in the highest wealth quintile agreeing with wife beating compared with 24% of women and 21% of men in the lowest wealth quintile," part of the survey read.

35 percent of men within the same age bracket who also took part in the survey agreed with wife beating, with 40 percent being in rural areas and 26 percent in urban areas.

The level of education, the survey showed, was a factor in determining the responses given by the respondents noting that 70 percent of women and 59 percent of men with no education agreed with wife beating while 19 percent of women and 21 percent of men with more than secondary education agreed with the same.