Urbanization in low and middle-income nations is characterized by economic and demographic shifts largely understood to be beneficial to women’s empowerment. These changes include increased education and wage-labor opportunities, a disruption of traditional patrilocal residence systems, and reductions in spousal age gap and fertility. However, such changes may drive a “violence backlash,” with men increasing intimate partner violence (IPV) in efforts to challenge women’s shifting status. To date, tests of this idea primarily relate to women’s changing economic status, with less known about the demographic correlates of IPV in urbanizing settings. Addressing this, we conducted a cross-sectional study of IPV behavior and attitudes in an urbanizing community in Mwanza, northern Tanzania (n = 317). Consistent with a violence backlash, IPV was reported more often among women educated at higher levels than their husband, and women earning similar, rather than lower, wages to their husband were more likely to report that he condones IPV. These findings were independent of women’s absolute education and income. Furthermore, less frequent paternal kin contact, and relatively small spousal age gaps, generally understood to boost women’s empowerment, were associated with an increased risk of experiencing IPV. Less frequent paternal kin contact was also associated with an increased likelihood that a husband condones IPV. Contrary to our predictions, relatively lower fertility, generally linked to higher women’s empowerment, did not predict IPV behavior and women with high, rather than low, fertility were more likely to report that their husband condones IPV. Overall, our results support the notion of a violence backlash corresponding to economic changes for women that accompany urbanization. In contrast, demographic changes associated with urbanization have more variable relationships. Drawing on these results, we suggest future research avenues for better understanding the vulnerability of women to IPV in urbanizing settings.

低收入和中等收入国家的城市化以经济和人口变化为特征，这些变化在很大程度上被认为有利于增强妇女权能。这些变化包括教育和雇佣劳动机会的增加、传统父居居住制度的瓦解，以及配偶年龄差距和生育率的降低。然而，此类变化可能会引发“暴力反弹”，男性会增加亲密伴侣暴力 (IPV) 以挑战女性不断变化的地位。迄今为止，对这一想法的检验主要与女性不断变化的经济状况有关，而对 IPV 在城市化环境中的人口统计学相关性知之甚少。为了解决这个问题，我们对坦桑尼亚北部姆万扎城市化社区的 IPV 行为和态度进行了横断面研究（n= 317）。与暴力反弹一致，IPV 在受教育程度高于其丈夫的女性中更常见，而收入与丈夫相似而不是较低的女性更有可能报告说他纵容 IPV。这些发现与女性的绝对教育和收入无关。此外，较少的父系亲属接触和相对较小的配偶年龄差距（通常被认为可以增强女性的权能）与遭受 IPV 的风险增加有关。较少的父系亲属接触也与丈夫纵容 IPV 的可能性增加有关。与我们的预测相反，相对较低的生育率，通常与较高的女性赋权有关，并不能预测 IPV 行为，并且女性的生育率高而不是低，有生育能力的人更有可能报告说他们的丈夫纵容 IPV。总的来说，我们的结果支持暴力反弹与城市化带来的女性经济变化相对应的观点。相比之下，与城市化相关的人口变化具有更多可变的关系。根据这些结果，我们建议未来的研究途径，以更好地了解女性在城市化环境中对 IPV 的脆弱性。