Among women, the only independent variable associated with justification of wife beating was a woman's own experience of being a victim of violence perpetrated by her husband. No other variables in the model were associated with women's justification of wife beating. Among men, there were additional variables significantly associated with justification for wife beating. There was a strong link between a man's previous abuse of his wife and justification for wife beating in the hypothetical scenarios presented to him. Other variables associated with men's acceptance of wife beating were younger age (under 29 years old), being unsupportive of women's autonomy, and not being in the labor force. An important implication of these findings is that the prevalence of wife beating in a community legitimizes it as normative behavior for both victims and perpetrators. Ending violence against women requires multiple strategies at the individual, organizational, community, and societal levels, including changing community norms of acceptance of intimate partner violence, empowering women to resist abuse and the norms that perpetuate it, raising the "costs" for abusers, providing for the needs of victims, and reaching out to modify the attitudinal and behavioral norms of abusive men. 3 tables and 36 references