This evidence review summarises what is known about the intersections between poverty and rates of intimate partner violence. It notes that around a third of women worldwide have experienced physical or sexual intimate partner violence in their lifetime, that the risk is experienced by women regardless of socio-economic status, and that poverty is a key driver: the relationship runs both ways, since intimate partner violence is a reinforcing loop with multiple pathways between poverty and violence.

The review examines how economic empowerment activities aimed at women affect rates of intimate partner violence, and finds both positive and negative outcomes. Its policy recommendations are to design women's economic empowerment interventions in ways that minimise potential harm, to work at household level rather than focusing only on individuals, and to combine economic work with social empowerment and the transformation of societal gender norms.