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Nearly 55% of Indian women and a little over half of Indian men think that wife-beating is okay, according to the latest National Family Health Survey, reflecting widespread social acceptability of domestic violence across genders
Over 40% of Indian women have experienced domestic violence at some point in their married lives, and nearly 55% think that spousal abuse is warranted in several circumstances, according to the newly-published findings of India’s third National Family Health Survey (NFHS-III). NFHS-III, which interviewed 1.25 lakh women in 28 states and the national capital, during 2005-06 found that just over a third of women who had been married at any point in their lives said they had been pushed, slapped, shaken or otherwise attacked by their husbands at least once. Slapping was the most common act of physical violence by husbands. More than 34% of women said their husbands slapped them, while 15% said their husbands pulled their hair or twisted their arm. Around 14% of the women had things thrown at them. The NFHS also states that an overwhelming majority of women who reported domestic violence were first assaulted by their husbands less than two years into their marriage. According to the figures, 62% experienced physical or sexual violence within the first two years of marriage, while 32% experienced violence in the first five years. India’s latest and most comprehensive survey also found that one in six wives had been emotionally abused by their husbands, while one in 10, or 10%, have experienced sexual violence like marital rape on at least one occasion. Low levels of education clearly play a major role in this horrifying trend -- over 47% of women who reported domestic violence had no education, compared with 12% among women with 12 or more years of education. The figure was 16% for women who had completed high school. According to the NFHS figures, domestic violence is most common in Bihar -- the percentage of abused women is 59%, with 63% of incidents reported among urban women. Bihar was followed by Rajasthan (46.3%), Madhya Pradesh (45.8%), Manipur (43.9%), Uttar Pradesh (42.4%), Tamil Nadu (41.9%), and West Bengal (40.3%). Meanwhile, the tiny, ‘less developed’ but highly progressive hill state of Himachal Pradesh reported the lowest incidence of abuse by husbands -- a mere 6%. Women belonging to scheduled caste and scheduled tribe communities reportedly experienced the most spousal abuse, with one in three reporting having been beaten by their husbands. Ironically, Buddhist women reported the highest levels of violence (41%) followed by Muslim and Hindu women (34%-35%) and Sikh and Christian women (26%-28%). Women from the Jain community reported the lowest levels of violence -- 13%. With regard to attitudes to domestic violence, the NFHS found that 41% of women thought that husbands were justified in slapping their wives if the latter showed disrespect to their in-laws. Meanwhile, a substantial 35% of women thought they deserved a brutal beating at the hands of their spouses if they neglected doing the household chores or looking after their children. Given this attitude towards domestic violence from the victims themselves, it is unsurprising that nearly 51% of the 75,000 Indian men surveyed think hitting or beating their wives is acceptable for certain reasons, particularly if she disrespects her in-laws. A smaller number think bad cooking or refusing sex are reasons for physically assaulting their wives. Experts say the way women in India are brought up explains why only one in four abused women seek help to try and end the violence their husbands mete out to them. For instance, only 2% of women who faced domestic violence sought intervention from the police. G C Chaturvedi, director, National Rural Health Mission, says: “In India, the worst problem we face is that victims in almost all states don’t feel victimised, both in case of dowry or spousal violence. They feel being beaten up or tortured by their husbands is all right. They have been groomed to believe that. We are trying to change this mindset by educating and empowering more women, making them aware of their rights. It will take some time to change people.” Commenting on NFHS findings on the widespread social acceptability of gender-based physical abuse by a partner, Dr Sulabha Parasuraman of the International Institute of Population Studies (IIPS) says the attitude of Indian women is “truly shocking”. “Men are brought up being taught that beating up their wives isn’t wrong, while women are told that being assaulted by their husbands is acceptable. Girls are taught that they can be punished by their husbands for disobedience. This social attitude has to change immediately.” The IIPS spearheaded the survey on domestic violence for the NFHS that was jointly conducted by 18 organisations. Source: www.dnaindia.com, October 12, 2007
www.yahoonews.com, October 12, 2007
Reuters, October 11, 2007
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