this aligns with research by maldonado najera and segovia from mexico that showed that significant income increases to women may threaten men s status causing husbands with more traditional gender views to reassert control through violence overall however the risk of increased ipv could also decline over time as both men s individual attitudes and broader social attitudes become more accepting of women s increased economic activity and financial autonomy ahmed for example some participants in the south african image intervention reported that the increased selfconfidence social support and communication skills gained from being part of a combined microfinance and training initiative resulted in improved partner communication preventing any conflict escalating into violence kim et al