Here a few of the studies I have looked at. Note that overall, at least in the US, those who are religious tend to have lower rates of domestic violence, while those who adhere to fundamentalist religions tend to have higher rates of DV. So, for example, those who follow Christianity tend to have higher empathy levels and thus religious belief acts as a
protection against DV, until it is a fundamentalist Christian religion. Then the empathy levels plummet and rates of DV go above average. Sexual abuse/assault tends to be higher among conservatively religious people, especially those who practice fundamentalist religions:
1. The inherent logic of patriarchy says that if men have the right to power and control over women and children, they also have the right to enforce that control. . . . Domination and glorification of violence are characteristics of patriarchal societies. . . . In patriarchy, women and children are defined in relation to men who control the resources and the power. Women and children are the other, the object. Men are the norm, the subject. In a dominance-and-submission social order, there is no true mutual care. Subordinates are to care for the needs of the dominants.24 Similarly, Rosemary Radford Ruether declares: “Domestic violence against women—wife battering or beating—is rooted in and is the logical conclusion of basic patriarchal assumptions about women’s subordinate status.”25 After carefully documenting historical and religious incidents and justifications for the abuse of women, Mary Engel Potter argues that “ideologies of inequity [patriarchy] and the practice of violence are inextricably linked” because the logic of patriarchy provides one just cause for battery, namely female subordination.26
https://www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-PDFs/50/50-3/JETS_50-3_573-594_Tracy.pdf
2. A study showing that:
Gender-related factors at the national and subnational level help to predict the population prevalence of physical and sexual partner violence within the past 12 months. Especially predictive of the geographical distribution of partner violence are norms related to
male authority over female behaviour (0·102, p<0·0001)
DEFINE_ME
3. In this chapter, Daphne Marsden considers conservative Christian understandings of gender roles and relationships, and the way that these are rooted in biblically based teachings on male headship and female submission. Evaluating both complementarian and egalitarian understandings of Christian gender roles, she explores the use of certain biblical texts by evangelical Christians to validate patriarchal patterns of male hegemony, thereby justifying spousal violence and preventing abused women from seeking or receiving support. Interspersed throughout her discussion are the testimonies of Christian women impacted by gender violence, whose words illustrate first-hand some of the consequences that arise from conservative Christian teachings about gender roles.
The Church’s Contribution to Domestic Violence: Submission, Headship, and Patriarchy
4. Family Violence in Religious Communities
[T]he triumvirate of family violence (domestic violence, child physical abuse, and child sexual abuse) is more likely to occur in insular, patriarchal communities in which women have little power or influence34—raising questions about how women and children will fare if society hands over greater authority to religious groups.35 Despite the presence of these classic risk factors, researchers have found it surprisingly difficult to measure the incidence of family violence within religious groups.36 The empirical studies that have been undertaken reveal a complex pattern of intimate partner abuse and child abuse in religious communities.37
Notes from link:
Risk Factors in the Sexual Victimization of Children, 4 CHILD ABUSE &NEGLECT 265, 269 (1980) (finding in a study of 796 college undergraduates that "[w]hen a father has particularly conservative family values, for example, believing strongly in children’s obedience and in the subordination of women, a daughter is more at risk for sexual abuse").
EMERSON DOBASH &RUSSELL DOBASH,VIOLENCE AGAINST WIVES: ACASE AGAINST THE PATRIARCHY 33 (1983) ("The seeds of wife beating lie in the subordination of females and their subjection to male authority and control.")
https://law2.wlu.edu/deptimages/Law Review/64-4Wilson.pdf
5. This briefing discusses the insidious links between patriarchy, violence and Christianity and their effects on women as seen through the prevalence of domestic violence in South Africa. Patriarchy, as the rule of the father/male over women, is in itself a form of violence because of its effects on women's dignity and place in society. Using the thought of Rene Girard, the links between violence, the sacred and sexuality are established. Christianity, as a patriarchal religion, does violence to women through its preponderant use of male language for God, its traditional teaching on women's inferiority, the Household Codes in the New Testament which mandate the subordination of women, and its hierarchical structure.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10130950.2004.9676037
6. A study showing how religiosity in general correlates with a DECREASED risk of violence, but fundamentalist religiosity correlates with an increase:
From our findings, it appears that Religiousness, in and of itself, tends to be a factor that is related to greater Empathy/Perspective Taking for college males. However, for males reporting greater endorsement of fundamentalist interpretations of religious beliefs, their experience with religion tended to be associated with lower Empathy/Perspective Taking. Furthermore, given that Empathy/Perspective Taking tends to be a protective factor related to lower risk of IPV perpetration, it is possible that males with higher fundamentalist beliefs tend to be at greater relative risk for perpetration of intimate partner violence. On the other hand, for males who do not espouse fundamentalist beliefs religiousness tends to be associated with greater Empathy/Perspective Taking, which may reduce their risk of IPV perpetration. From a statistical standpoint, the overall relationship between religiousness and empathy when taking into account the direct effect of religiousness and the mediating effect of fundamentalism suggests that no significant relationship exists. However, it is most likely that the lack of a significant overall effect is an artifact of the opposed directionality of those direct (β=.34) and indirect (β =-.69) effects, and not representative of the true relationships among those constructs (Baron & Kenny, 1986). Conversely, when evaluating the total effect of religiousness on Masculine Power over Women, religiousness appears to be related to greater endorsement of male dominance, which in turn has been found to be a risk factor for IPV perpetration. However, our findings suggest that this apparent relationship is almost entirely associated 39 with a man’s endorsement of fundamentalist beliefs, rather than his general Religiousness. Thus, while on the surface Religiousness seems to have no association with beliefs regarding Masculine Power over Women, males endorsing greater fundamentalist beliefs tend to be the ones who also state that they believe in man’s dominant position over women.
https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4648&context=etd
7. Another study showing the difference in rates of violence between those who are religious (generally not association with psychological aggression, violence approval or intimate partner violence) and those with fundamentalist religious beliefs (higher rates of violence approval and intimate partner violence):
RELIGIOSITY, CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISM, AND INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE AMONG U.S. COLLEGE STUDENTS on JSTOR
8. A study exploring whether fundamentalism and/or other religious variables correlate with increased risk of domestic violence:
Do Fundamentalism and Other Religious Variables Predict Domestic Violence? - by James Alexander
9. An article explaining that studies show: Sexual violence is likely to occur more commonly in cultures that foster beliefs of perceived male superiority and social and cultural inferiority of women.
Sexual violence against women: Understanding cross-cultural intersections
10. Child sexual abuse is a pervasive problem in our communities, and has been for the most part, ignored by churches in Christian denominations. This paper presents the current research regarding the impact of sexual abuse (particularly in children). It explores the hindrance the patriarchal structure of Christian churches has been in giving victims a spiritual place of healing. The author presents suggestions as to what churches can do to better equip their leaders and congregants to deal with the topic of sexual abuse and to make the Christian community a safer place for victims. The article also includes issues for secular traumatologists working with victims of sexual abuse by clergy.
SAGE Journals: Your gateway to world-class research journals
11. Religious Affiliations Among Adult Sexual Offenders Donna Eshuys · Stephen Smallbone Published online: 2 August 2006 C Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2006 Abstract This article examines associations between self-reported religious affiliations and official offense histories among 111 incarcerated adult male sexual offenders. Four categories of religiosity were devised according to self-reported continuities and discontinuities in lifecourse religious affiliations: atheists, dropouts, converts, and stayers. ANCOVAs indicated that stayers (those who maintained religious involvement from childhood to adulthood) had more sexual offense convictions, more victims, and younger victims, than other groups. Results challenge assumptions that religious involvement should, as with other crime, serve to deter sexual offending behavior. Results are discussed in terms of social control and situational theories of crime.
http://static1.squarespace.com/stat...Affiliations+Among+Adult+Sexual+Offenders.pdf
12. "One Israeli study confirmed that “…religious Jews who were in prison were more likely to be in for sex crimes.”
Religiosity, criminality and types of offences of Jewish male prisoners Medicine and law, 14 (7-8), 509-19 PMID: 8667998
The Prevalence of Sexual Abuse in Fundamentalist Patriarchal Environments.
13. "A study of freshmen at a southern university in the U.S. found that '…those who had been sexually abused by a relative were much more likely to be affiliated with fundamental Protestant religions.'"
Religiosity and Child Sexual Abuse: A Risk Factor Assessment Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 6 (4), 15-34 DOI: 10.1300/J070v06n04_02
The Prevalence of Sexual Abuse in Fundamentalist Patriarchal Environments.
