1) The authors need to add an elaborate presentation of theories on causes and consequences of violence against women in the introduction. This is especially crucial as they discuss their findings in relation to one of these theories (ie ecological model). This suddenly appears in the discussion without prior mention in the background. Also, there are several theoretical models explaining violence causation. The reason why they discuss their findings only in relation to the ecological model is not clear. They need to explain why they choose this framework alone or discuss their findings in relation to the different frameworks in general. The later is preferred.

We understand the reviewer’s concern about the need to include theories on causes and consequences of violence in the background section of our manuscript. We have now incorporated a section in the background (pg 7-8) on theories as suggested. We have included the culture of violence, power, feminist and social learning theories as well as the ecological model as seen below: