Correlates of Domestic Violence in India

Abstract

Domestic violence against women is recognized as a violation of the basic human rights of women. Increasingly, research findings highlight the health burdens, the intergenerational effects and the demographic consequences of the impact of domestic violence on the lives of women. It has been acknowledged that the majority of violence against women takes place within a relationship, a married relationship in particular. This study analyzes the factors responsible for wife battering in two Indian States, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, in order to study differential patterns in the wife battering phenomenon. These two states stand at extreme ends of socio-economic and demographic development. The data used in the study is from India’s National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-3, and was collected by the International Institute for Population Sciences in 2005-06 [13]. It is surprising to note that there are very few interstate differences in wife battering patterns, despite these two states being at extreme ends of the spectrum, in terms of demographic development. These findings indicate the powerlessness of Indian women in negotiating matters relating to physical violence within the household, in both demographically progressive and backward States.