essay on domestic violence in india

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• Published: 21 April 2022

Domestic violence in Indian women: lessons from nearly 20 years of surveillance

• Rakhi Dandona 1 , 2 ,
• Aradhita Gupta 1 ,
• Sibin George 1 ,
• Somy Kishan 1 &
• G. Anil Kumar 1  

BMC Women's Health volume  22 , Article number:  128 ( 2022 ) Cite this article

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Prevalence of self-reported domestic violence against women in India is high. This paper investigates the national and sub-national trends in domestic violence in India to prioritise prevention activities and to highlight the limitations to data quality for surveillance in India.

Data were extracted from annual reports of National Crimes Record Bureau (NCRB) under four domestic violence crime-headings—cruelty by husband or his relatives, dowry death, abetment to suicide, and protection of women against domestic violence act. Rate for each crime is reported per 100,000 women aged 15–49 years, for India and its states from 2001 to 2018. Data on persons arrested and legal status of the cases were extracted.

Rate of reported cases of cruelty by husband or relatives in India was 28.3 (95% CI 28.1–28.5) in 2018, an increase of 53% from 2001. State-level variations in this rate ranged from 0.5 (95% CI  − 0.05 to 1.5) to 113.7 (95% CI 111.6–115.8) in 2018. Rate of reported dowry deaths and abetment to suicide was 2.0 (95% CI 2.0–2.0) and 1.4 (95% CI 1.4–1.4) in 2018 for India, respectively. Overall, a few states accounted for the temporal variation in these rates, with the reporting stagnant in most states over these years. The NCRB reporting system resulted in underreporting for certain crime-headings. The mean number of people arrested for these crimes had decreased over the period. Only 6.8% of the cases completed trials, with offenders convicted only in 15.5% cases in 2018. The NCRB data are available in heavily tabulated format with limited usage for intervention planning. The non-availability of individual level data in public domain limits exploration of patterns in domestic violence that could better inform policy actions to address domestic violence.

Conclusions

Urgent actions are needed to improve the robustness of NCRB data and the range of information available on domestic violence cases to utilise these data to effectively address domestic violence against women in India.

Peer Review reports

The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 5 is to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls, and the two indicators of progress towards this are the rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) and non-partner violence [ 1 ]. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated a 26% prevalence of IPV in ever-married/partnered women aged 15 years or more globally in 2018, and this prevalence is higher at 35% for southern Asia region in which India falls [ 2 ]. The self-reported domestic violence (majority by an intimate partner) in any form is reported between 33 to 41% among ever-married women from India [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. Furthermore, the suicide death rate among women in India was reported to be twice the global rate [ 9 ], and housewives account for the majority of suicide deaths, the reasons for which are documented as “personal/social” [ 10 ].

Domestic violence was first recognized as a punishable offence in India in 2005 with the passing of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA) [ 11 , 12 ]. A significant focus of domestic violence against women in India has been on dowry-related harassment. Dowry is the transfer of goods, money and/or property from the bride’s family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage [ 13 ], initially meant to provide funds to women who were unable to inherit family property [ 14 ]. Dowry is very prevalent in India [ 15 ], and it has propagated domestic violence as means to extract money or property from the bride and her family [ 13 , 16 ]. While earlier sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) criminalized only dowry-related domestic violence, PWDVA expanded legal recourse for domestic violence beyond dowry harassment for more effective protection of the rights of women guaranteed under the Constitution who are victims of violence of any kind occurring within the family [ 11 ].

The major official source of surveillance for domestic violence in India are the reports compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) [ 17 ]. Though under-reporting in NCRB reports is well documented for certain types of injuries [ 9 , 10 , 18 ], it remains the most comprehensive longitudinal source of domestic violence available at the state-level for India. We undertook a situational analysis for the years 2001 to 2018 using the NCRB reports to highlight the trends in the reported magnitude of domestic violence over time, to highlight the variations within country that could facilitate prioritization of immediate actions for prevention, and to discuss the limitations of the available NCRB reports for surveillance.

The primary source of the NCRB data is the First Information Report (FIR) completed by a police officer for any domestic violence incident which is compiled at the state level and provided to NCRB. FIR is a document prepared by police when they receive information about the commission of a cognizable offence either by the victim of the cognizable offence or by someone on their behalf [ 19 , 20 ]. It captures the date, time and location of offence, the details of offence, the details of victim and person reporting the offence, and steps taken by the police after receiving these details. The NCRB reports provide summary data based on these FIRs, which we utilized from 2001 to 2018 available in the public domain for this analysis. The details of data extracted and utilized are described below.

Type of data

Four crime headings corresponding to domestic violence related crimes against women were considered after consultation with legal experts who dealt with domestic violence cases based on the crime headings under which these are registered in India —cruelty by husband or his relatives, dowry death, abetment of suicide of women, and cases registered under PWDVA (Additional file 1 : Table S1). A case is filed under ‘cruelty by husband or his relatives’ (Section 498A of the IPC) when there is evidence of violence causing grave injury or of harassment to fulfil an unlawful demand for property [ 21 ]. Case of death of a woman within 7 years of marriage with evidence of dowry harassment is filed under dowry death (IPC Section 304B) [ 22 ]. As domestic violence is known as a risk factor for death by suicide among married women, we also considered the cases registered under abetment of suicide of women [ 23 ]. The cases under the PWDVA act criminalize perpetrators of domestic violence, defined to include physical, verbal, sexual, emotional and economic abuse in addition to dowry-related violence [ 11 ]. The NCRB reports data based on the “Principal Offence Rule,” which means that regardless of the number of offences under which a case of domestic violence is legally registered, it is reported only under the most serious crime heading by the NCRB [ 24 ].

Data extraction

NCRB reports included the number of cases filed as well as the number of victims under each of the four crime headings for 2014–2018 but reported only the number of cases filed from 2001 to 2013. The ratio of the number of cases to victims was 1.0 for 2014 to 2018, and hence we use the number of cases filed for this analysis from 2001 to 2018. Individual level-data is not published in the NCRB report.

Data for cruelty by husband or his relatives and for dowry death were available from 2001 to 2018, while data for abetment of suicide of women and PWDVA were available only from 2014 to 2018. We extracted the number of cases filed under each of the four domestic violence crime heads for each year for each state and for India. We also extracted data on the number of persons arrested under each crime category, which were available from 2001 to 2015 for the states and until 2018 for India. Here too, the data on abetment of suicide and PWDVA was available from 2014 to 2018 only. Lastly, we extracted data on the number of legal cases filed for these crimes and their current status in the judicial system. This legal data was available cumulatively for only India, and since it could not be extrapolated for each year from the tables, we analyzed this only for 2018.

Data analysis

Our analysis was aimed at understanding trends in the rate for each type of domestic violence crime heading. We calculated the rate of cruelty by husband or his relatives and dowry deaths from 2001 to 2018, and the rate of abetment of suicide of women and PWDVA from 2014 to 2018. As the NCRB reports do not specify the age of women who had reported these crimes, we assumed the age group of women to be 15–49 years to estimate the rates as the previous reports on domestic violence in India are predominately for women aged 15–49 years [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 ]. We used the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study 2019 state-wise annual population estimates for women aged 15–49 years as the denominator [ 32 ], and report the rates per 100,000 women aged 15–49 years with 95% confidence intervals (CI) estimated for these rates. We report these rates across three administrative splits: nationally, by groups of state and individual state. The state groups were populated based on the Socio-demographic Index (SDI) computed by the GBD study, which uses lag distributed income, average years of education for population > 15 years of age, and total fertility rate [ 9 , 32 ].

To assess the trends in arrests related to domestic violence crimes, we computed the mean number of people arrested under each crime heading by dividing the number of people arrested with the total number of cases. The statistical analysis was done using MS Excel 2016, and maps were created using QGIS [ 33 ]. As this analysis used aggregated data available in the public domain, no ethics approval was necessary.

Cruelty by husband or his relatives

A total of 1,548,548 cases were reported under cruelty by husband or his relatives in India from 2001 to 2018, with 554,481 (35.8%) between 2014 and 2018. The reported rate of this crime in India was 18.5 (95% CI 18.3–18.6) in 2001 and 28.3 (95% CI 28.1–28.5) in 2018 per 100,000 women aged 15–49 years, marking a significant increase of 53% (95% CI 51.7–54.3) over this period (Table 1 ). This rate was 37.9 (95% CI 37.5–38.3) for the middle SDI states as compared with 27.6 (95% CI 27.4–27.8) in the low- and 18.1 (95% CI 17.8–18.4) in the high-SDI states in 2018 (Table 1 ). This reported crime rate remained higher in the middle SDI states between 2001 and 2018 as compared with the other states, reaching its highest levels between 2011 and 2014 (Fig.  1 ). Wide variations were seen in the rate for reported cruelty by husband or his relatives in 2018 at the state-level, which ranged from 0.5 (95% CI -0.05 0–1.5) in Sikkim to 113.7 (95% CI 111.6–115.8) in Assam (Table 1 and Fig.  2 ). The state of Delhi, Assam, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Jammu and Kashmir documented > 160% increase in this reported crime rate during 2001–2018 (Table 1 ). The greatest decline in the rate of this reported crime was seen in Mizoram, 74.3% from 2001 to 2018 (Table 1 ).

Yearly trend in the rate of cruelty by husband or his relatives per 100,000 women of 15–49 years, 2001–2018. SDI denotes Socio-demographic Index

Crime rate for cruelty by husband or his relatives per 100,000 women aged 15–49 years in 2018 in India, by state

Interestingly, the 53% increase in this reported crime rate between 2001 and 2018 for India was accounted for by increased rates for only a few states, and the rate remained stagnant in most states (Additional file 2 : Fig. S1, Additional file 3 : Fig. S2, Additional file 4 : Fig. S3). Only the states of Assam and Rajasthan among the low SDI states (Additional file 2 : Fig. S1), Andhra Pradesh and Tripura among the middle SDI states (Additional file 3 : Fig. S2), and Kerala and Delhi among the high SDI states (Additional file 4 : Fig. S3) showed increased reporting of this crime over the study period. The mean number of persons arrested under this crime in India decreased from 2.2 in 2001 to 1.1 in 2018, and the numbers were similar across the state SDI groups (Additional file 5 : Fig. S4).

Dowry deaths

A total of 137,627 crimes were reported as dowry deaths between 2001 and 2018, with 38,342 (27.9%) cases between 2014 and 2018. The rate of this reported crime in India was 2.0 (95% CI 2.5–2.7) in 2018 per 100,000 women aged 15–49 years (Table 1 ). This rate in 2018 was 3.1 (95% CI 3.0–3.2) in the low-SDI states as compared to 1.2 (95% CI 1.1–1) in the middle- and 0.7 (95% CI 0.60–0.8) in the high-SDI states, and this trend was seen throughout the period studied (Table 1 ). At the state level in 2018, this rate ranged from 0.11 (95% CI 0–0.32) in Meghalaya to 4.0 (95% CI 3.8–4.2) in Uttar Pradesh; no cases were reported in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram or Nagaland (Table 1 and Fig.  3 ). The largest decline in this rate was seen in the states of Tamil Nadu and Gujarat over the study period (Table 1 ).

Rate of dowry deaths per 100,000 women aged 15–49 years in 2018 in India, by state

The mean number of persons arrested for dowry deaths in India declined from 3 in 2001 to 2.3 in 2018. In 2001, this mean was markedly higher in the high-SDI states (4.9) than the low- (2.7) and middle- (2.6) SDI states. However, by 2015 this rate was higher in the low-SDI states (2.9) than high- (2.2) and middle- (1.8) SDI states (Additional file 5 : Fig. S4).

Abetment of suicide of women

Data under this crime head was available from 2014 to 2018, during which 22,579 cases were reported. The average rate of this crime was 1.27 (95% CI 1.25–1.29) per 100,000 women aged 15–49 years over this period. Overall, relatively higher rates were recorded in middle-SDI states (2.2; 95% CI 2.1–2.3), followed by high- (1.7; 95% CI 1.6–1.8) and low- (0.73; 95% CI 0.69–0.77) SDI states (Table 1 ). Notably, the middle- and high-SDI groups recorded a similar rate in 2014, after which the middle-SDI states recorded a steady increase in rate until 2017, while the high-SDI states saw an initial dip in 2015 and then an increase till 2017. The rate in the low-SDI states remained low throughout this period (Table 1 ).

At the state-level in 2018, this rate ranged from 0.07 (95% CI 0.02 to 0.12) in Odisha to 4.0 (95% CI 3.6–4.4) in Telangana; no cases were reported in Bihar, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim and Nagaland (Table 1 and Fig.  4 ). While some states did not record any case, other states recorded significant changes between the 2014 and 2018. This rate in Tamil Nadu increased by 450% from 2014 to 2018, and West Bengal and Gujarat recorded an increase of over 100%, while this rate declined the most in Telangana, by 31% (Table 1 ). The mean number of persons arrested for this crime in India recorded a small increase from 1.4 in 2014 to 1.7 in 2018, and was similar across the state SDI groups (Additional file 5 : Fig. S4).

Rate of abetment of suicide of women per 100,000 women aged 15–49 years in 2018 in India, by state

PWDVA, 2005

A total of 2,519 cases were reported under PWDVA between 2014 and 2018, with an average crime rate of 0.14 (95% CI 0.13–0.15) per 100,000 women aged 15–49 years during this period (Table 1 ). Majority of the states did not report any case under this Act (Table 1 ). The mean number of persons arrested in India for this crime decreased from 1.6 in 2014 to 1 in 2018 (Additional file 5 : Fig. S4).

Status of the legal cases

A total of 658,418 cases were sent for trial in India in 2018, of which trial was completed in only 44,648 (6.8%) cases. Among the cases in which trial was completed, the offender(s) was convicted in only 6,921 (15.5%) cases.

In India between 2001 and 2018, the majority of domestic violence cases were filed under ‘cruelty by husband or his relatives’, with the reported rate of this crime increasing by 53% over the 18 years. However, it is important to note that only some states recorded change in the reported rate with the almost stagnant reported rate of domestic violence in many states over time. Significant heterogeneity was seen in the pattern of the four types of crimes at the state-level. Overall, the mean persons arrested decreased irrespective of the crime during the period studied, and less than 7% of the filed cases had completed legal trial in 2018. We discuss the gaps identified in the reported data which unless addressed have major implications in the facilitating action to reduce domestic violence against women in India.

The rate of reported crime under all the considered categories excluding dowry deaths in 2018 in India in the NCRB was close to the 33% self-reported domestic violence reported by women in the national survey in 2015–16 [ 3 ], though there is an indication that the prevalence of domestic violence could be as high as 41% in India [ 4 ]. The NCRB data provides passive surveillance with the source being the FIR filed by family/kin/community member with the police for a crime, and hence is dependent on the reporting from the community, which is known to be selective as women report less to the police for domestic violence due to various reasons including lack of social support, shame, and stigma [ 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ]. These differences could account for differential rates of domestic violence between the police records and self-reporting of domestic violence in the surveys [ 3 , 4 ]. Recently, it is also shown that how women are asked about domestic violence in surveys can also result in different estimates [ 38 ]. Furthermore, the Principal Offence Rule followed by NCRB "hides" many cases of domestic violence as according to this Rule, each criminal incident is recorded as one crime. If many offences are registered in a single case, only the most heinous crime—one that attracts maximum punishment—is considered as counting unit [ 39 , 40 ]. For example, an incident involving dowry death and cruelty by husband or relative will be reported in NCRB as dowry death as it warrants the maximum punishment, thereby, underreporting the number of cases with cruelty by husband or relative.

The cases under cruelty by husband or his relatives accounted for the majority of reported cases, and the rate of this reporting was comparatively higher in the middle-SDI states over the years studied. Previous research using field notes from cases reported to police indicate that victims are often in an environment that condones violence through active encouragement or tacit approval by the husband’s family members; and that many women lack social support as they experience violence from multiple perpetrators at home [ 34 , 41 ]. It is plausible that this rate is higher in the middle-SDI states because material wealth is highly prized among the Indian middle class, and dowry is seen as an easy path to greater wealth and social status [ 12 ]. A higher dowry demand, and a greater dissatisfaction from inability to meet these demands could possibly result in more domestic violence in these states [ 12 , 42 , 43 ]. Another possible factor in these states could be that the increasing female literacy in these states may be perceived as a threat to the prevalent power structures, prompting violence against women as a means to reinstate control [ 12 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 ].

The middle-SDI states also had a higher rate of reported cases under abetment to suicide. The link between abuse and suicidal behaviour is well established, with research indicating that three out of ten women who undergo domestic violence are likely to attempt suicide [ 5 ]. Furthermore, a significantly higher suicide death rate is reported in Indian women than their global counterparts [ 9 ], and housewives account for the majority of these suicide deaths [ 10 ]. Wide state-level variations in the suicide death rate for women are also reported [ 9 ], and the relationship between the prevalence of domestic violence and suicide death rate needs to be explored further.

In contrast to the increased reporting of cases of cruelty over time, the rate of dowry death cases decreased from 2001 to 2018, with the low-SDI states recording the highest rate of dowry deaths. The dip in these cases may have resulted from the 2010 judgment requiring prior harassment of the victim associated with a dowry shortfall which made it harder to register a dowry death but presumably also harder to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it was a dowry death, and not in fact.[ 48 ] Furthermore, qualitative research has shown that the families of dowry death cases deter from accusing the husband or his family due to fear of issues with up-bringing of the children of their daughter [ 47 ]. Also dowry deaths or related suicide deaths are less likely to be reported by the natal family, who fear social stigma and negative impact on marriages of their other daughters [ 42 , 49 ]. In this context, it is not easy to interpret the decreased number of cases of dowry deaths in India as actual fewer dowry deaths, for which more evidence is needed.

Very few cases were filed under PWDVA with the middle-SDI states reporting no cases during the period studied. While PWDVA defines domestic violence to include coercive behaviour as well as physical, sexual, emotional and economic abuse [ 11 ], in actuality only extreme forms of physical violence with evidence of injury are seen to evoke a legal response [ 12 ]. Interviews with victims indicate that unless they were able to offer a dowry claim or show evidence of grave physical violence, the police were either reluctant to file an FIR or offer PWDVA as a legal recourse to them [ 12 ]. It is also documented that the police, acting as social brokers, attempt to fit the reported domestic violence cases into ‘normal constructs’ frequently focusing on dowry harassment despite the broadened scope of the law as a recourse for domestic violence beyond dowry harassment [ 5 ]. Thus, data under this crime heading is unlikely to reflect the true picture of domestic violence against women in India.

The poor response of formal system to domestic violence is also reflected in the legal recourse as only 6.8% of the cases filed completed trials in 2018, with the majority of accused being acquitted. This bleak state of waiting, extended trials and low conviction is known to further discourage women from reporting [ 50 ]. The legal process is also influenced by the patriarchy driven attitudes of the police and people in the legal systems [ 44 ], and their unwillingness to act on domestic violence cases which they view as “private matter,”[ 13 , 44 ] such that many cases are not investigated, or dropped due to delay in filing [ 5 ]. In other cases, the investigation is based on the statement of the husband or relatives rather than fingerprints [ 13 ], with the perpetrator of violence not even recorded in over 90% of the cases [ 5 ]. Notably, little empirical research is available on the perceptions of abusive husbands and families on domestic violence that can facilitate intervention programs for abusive husbands [ 34 ].

Limitations and way forward

There are limitations to the data presented and the interpretation. The NCRB data depend on the availability and quality of data recorded by the police at the local level, which is known to have varied quality [ 9 , 10 , 18 ]. The findings have to be interpreted within in this limitation as it is not possible for us to comment on the extent of underreporting of data or the pattern of underreporting by type of crime, year or state. The heterogeneity in the NCRB data at the state level highlighted by the noisy trends or stagnant trend for certain states do not allow for a meaningful interpretation, and calls for a robust assessment of the reporting practices by the police and judiciary at state level to identify the gaps for inadequate documentation and underreporting that can facilitate appropriate corrective measures to improve data quality [ 18 ]. We assumed the age group of affected women to be 15–49 years. Though majority of the cases are likely to be in this age group given the other available information, the unavailability of age of women affected by the type of crime, year and state restricts understanding of the target women for prevention and action. Currently, the data are available in heavily tabulated fixed formats that limit the extent of disaggregated analysis. Because of non-availability of data on number of victims for some years, we assumed the ratio of the number of cases to victims based on the available data for other years. More informative analyses may also be possible if the NCRB reports allow for anonymized individual level data to be available in the public domain, including repeat reports of domestic violence by individual women.

Despite NCRB being a passive surveillance source, efforts can be made to improve the quality of information collected by the police during their routine tasks to improve utilisation of these data for planning action. The World Health Organization injury surveillance guidelines could provide practical advice on collecting systematic data on domestic violence, which can be more comparable over time and location [ 51 ]. Training and sensitisation of the police to address gender violence should also include standardisations in capturing of the data and the quality of data captured.

Disasters, natural or otherwise, disproportionately impact women and girls with some evidence suggesting that violence against women increases in disaster settings, however, there is a lack of rigorously designed and good quality studies that are needed to inform evidence-based policies and safeguard women and girls during and after disasters [ 52 ]. There has also been suggestion of an increase in domestic violence against women during the Covid-19 pandemic, globally [ 53 ] and in India [ 54 , 55 ]. In this context, the urgency to address the gaps highlighted in the NCRB data is even more for India to protect its women against domestic violence.

India needs to address the gaps in the administrative data to effectively respond to the SDG target five to eliminate all forms of violence against women. This longitudual analysis of the reported cases of domestic violence of nearly 20 years across the Indian states has highlighted the under-reporting and almost stagnant data, which hinders formulating of well-informed public health intervention strategies to reduce domestic violence in India.

Availability of data and materials

The domestic violence related data used in these analyses are available at NCRB website ( https://ncrb.gov.in ) and from the authors on request. The GBD population data used in these analyses are available at GBD Results Tool | GHDx (healthdata.org).

Abbreviations

Confidence interval

First information report

Global burden of disease

Indian penal code

National Crimes Records Bureau

National Family Health Survey

Protection of women from domestic violence act

Quantum geographic information system

Sustainable development goal

Socio-demographic index

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Acknowledgements

We thank Amit Kumar Chetty and Parijat Singh for help with downloading and formatting of the data.

This work was supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation [INV-004506]. Under the grant conditions of the Foundation, a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Generic License has already been assigned to the Author Accepted Manuscript version that might arise from this submission

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RD and GAK conceptualised this paper. RD drafted the manuscript with contributions from AG and GAK. SG, SK and GAK performed data analysis. All authors contributed to the interpretation and agreed with the final version of the paper. RD and GAK had full access to all the data in the study and had the final responsibility for the decision to submit for publication. All authors had access to the estimates presented in the paper. RD and GAK verified the data underlying this study. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Additional file 1.

. Definitions of crime headings considered under domestic violence. IPC denotes Indian Penal Code.

Additional file 2

. Crime rate for cruelty by husband or his relatives per 100,000 women aged 15-49 years in the Indian states categorised as having low Socio-demographic Index, 2001-18.

Additional file 3.

Crime rate for cruelty by husband or his relatives per 100,000 women aged 15-49 years in the Indian states categorised as having middle Socio-demographic Index, 2001-18. Telangana state not shown as it was formed in 2014.

Additional file 4.

Crime rate for cruelty by husband or his relatives per 100,000 women aged 15-49 years in the Indian states categorised as having high Socio-demographic Index, 2001-18.

Additional file 5.

Mean numbers of persons arrested under cruelty by husband or his relatives and dowry deaths for the years 2001-2018, and under abetment of suicide of women and PWDVA for the years 2014-2018. SDI denotes Socio-demographic Index. The state wise data for mean number of persons arrested was available until 2015 only.

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Dandona, R., Gupta, A., George, S. et al. Domestic violence in Indian women: lessons from nearly 20 years of surveillance. BMC Women's Health 22 , 128 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-022-01703-3

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

A global study into indian women’s experiences of domestic violence and control: the role of patriarchal beliefs.

• School of Psychology, Deakin University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Domestic violence (DV) is a serious and preventable human rights issue that disproportionately affects certain groups of people, including Indian women. Feminist theory suggests that patriarchal ideologies produce an entitlement in male perpetrators of DV; however, this has not been examined in the context of women from the Indian subcontinent. This study examined Indian women’s experiences of abuse (physical, sexual, and psychological) and controlling behavior across 31 countries by examining the relationship between the patriarchal beliefs held by the women’s partners and the women’s experience of DV. This study uses an intersectional feminist framework to examine the variables. Data from an online questionnaire was collected from 825 Indian women aged between 18 and 77 years ( M  = 35.64, SD  = 8.71) living in 31 countries across Asia (37.1%), Europe (18.3%), Oceania (23.8%), the Americas (16.1%) and Africa (3.2%) and analyzed using a hierarchical linear regression. A majority of participants (72.5%) had experienced at least one form of abuse during their relationship, and over a third (35.1%) had experienced controlling behavior. In support of the central hypotheses, after controlling for potential confounders, women whose partners showed greater endorsement of patriarchal beliefs were less likely to have access to freedom during their relationship ( ß  = −0.38, p  < 0.001) and were more likely to have been abused by their partner or a member of his family ( ß  = 0.34, p  < 0.001). The findings of this study highlight the need to engage with men in Indian communities through culturally-tailored intervention strategies designed to challenge the patriarchal ideologies that propagate, justify, and excuse DV.

Introduction

Domestic violence (DV) is the most common form of violence against women, and occurs in every country around the world, transgressing social, economic, religious, and cultural divides ( García-Moreno et al., 2005 ; Violence Against Women Prevalence Estimates, 2018 ). Although men can be abused by female partners and violence also occurs in non-heterosexual relationships, the vast majority of DV victims are women, and their perpetrators are a current or former male partner ( World Health Organization, 2019 ). In the context of this study, DV includes physical, sexual abuse, or emotional abuse and controlling behaviors such as enforced isolation, excessive jealousy, and limiting access to economic resources or support ( Our Watch, 2015 ; World Health Organization, 2019 ). In research, the terms, domestic violence, intimate partner violence, family violence, sexual violence and spousal abuse are used interchangeably. For the purposes of the present study, ‘domestic violence’ is used to refer to the violence women experience from their current or former intimate partner.

In addition to representing the leading cause of death for women around the world, with more than 50,000 women being killed by a partner or family member each year ( UNODC, 2018 ), the physical, psychological, and social effects of DV are profound and enduring. Along with physical injuries, women who have been subjected to DV report higher rates of depression, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, cognitive impairment, substance abuse, and are more likely to have thought about or attempted suicide ( Ellsberg et al., 2008 ; Chandra et al., 2009 ). They are also at a heightened risk of experiencing sexually-transmitted infections, gynecological problems, unwanted pregnancies, and miscarriages ( Ellsberg et al., 2008 ; Stephenson et al., 2008 ; Dalal and Lindqvist, 2010 ). Moreover, violence in the home places women at significant risk of homelessness, unemployment, and poverty ( Specialist homelessness services annual report, Summary, 2021 ). Although some men also experience violence from their female partners, prevalence rates from across the world show that women experience violence at three times a greater rate than men; the risk factors for men and women could also vary and therefore, these need to be clearly delineated for each group. Given the deleterious outcomes associated with DV, understanding the factors that drive it is vital in research, policy, as well as in clinical practice ( Ellsberg et al., 2008 ).

A landmark study by the WHO which collected data from over 24,000 women in 10 countries about the extent of domestic violence they experienced found that depending on country and context (e.g., rural versus urban locations), between 15 and 71% of women had been physically or sexually assaulted by an intimate partner during their lifetime ( García-Moreno et al., 2005 ). These findings raise three pertinent points: first, that the apparent universality of DV confirms that its occurrence is not a random aberration, but instead a reflection of gender inequalities that are deeply entrenched and systemically enacted in many cultures and societies around the world. Second, that in addition to gender, factors such as socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and immigration status intersect with gender to shape women’s experiences of abuse. Third, that high rates of violence against women are not inevitable, nor intractable, and therefore should be the aim of global prevention efforts. In sum, it is clear that the harmful effects of DV are universal, but not experienced by all women equally. As such, identifying how diverse groups of women experience DV in their particular cultural context is essential for designing culturally relevant interventions for both victims and perpetrators ( Bhuyan and Senturia, 2005 ). Studies have shown that the experiences of migrant and refugee women can vary significantly to their non-migrant counterparts, therefore, we need a clearer understanding of the nuances of these differences and the impacts of their experiences.

Indian women are one group of women that remain at high risk of DV with or without migration from India ( Natarajan, 2002 ; Ahmed-Ghosh, 2004 ; Bhuyan and Senturia, 2005 ) compared to women from Europe, the Western Pacific or North America ( Violence Against Women Prevalence Estimates, 2018 ). However, the largely Western-centric feminist discourse surrounding DV means there is a dearth of Indian-specific research. In addition, common methodological limitations such as the lack of psychometrically-validated, culturally-appropriate DV measurement tools, small and single-location sample sizes, and a failure to recognize forms of abuse other than physical abuse means that the voices of Indian women remain both under-and mis-represented in the extant literature ( Yoshihama, 2001 ; Kalokhe et al., 2016 ).

While much progress has been made toward gender equality in India ( Bhatia, 2012 ), the prevalence of DV is high. Data from the 2015–2016 Indian National Family Health Survey indicated that 33% of the 67,000 women surveyed in India had experienced DV during their marriage, with the most common type being physical violence (30%), followed by emotional (14%) and sexual violence (7%) ( National Family Health Survey, 2017 ). A recent systematic review of 137 quantitative studies examining DV in India by Kalokhe and colleagues ( Kalokhe et al., 2016 ) also found high rates of these types of violence along with a 41% prevalence of multiple types of abuse. The impact of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse on women’s mental, physical, sexual, and reproductive health is severe and leads to greater levels of depression, suicide attempts, post-traumatic stress disorder, and somatic symptoms and a decreased quality of life ( Kalokhe et al., 2016 ). Research also shows that Indian women who have migrated from India to the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada experience higher rates of DV than the general population ( Raj and Silverman, 2002 ; Ahmad et al., 2004 ; Mahapatra, 2012 ). Little is known about the DV rates among Indian women who migrate to other countries. Taken together, these findings suggest that Indian women across the globe experience high rates of DV. As such, it is important to understand the sociocultural factors that contribute to its occurrence.

While there is no single cause of DV, feminist theories emphasize how the circulation and espousal of patriarchal ideologies in society contribute to, create, and maintain DV ( Pagelow, 1981 ; Smith, 1990 ). Although variously defined, patriarchy refers to the hierarchical system of social power arrangements that affords men more power and privilege than women, both structurally and ideologically ( Smith, 1990 ; Hunnicutt, 2009 ) with the origins of the word ‘patriarchy’ coming from the Greek word Πατριάρχης ( patriakh͞es ), meaning male chief or head of a family.

According to an ecological framework ( Heise, 1998 ), patriarchal control, exploitation and oppression of women occurs within all levels of social ecology, including the macrosystem (e.g., government, laws, culture), mesosystem (e.g., the media, workplaces), microsystem (e.g., families and relationships), and at the level of the individual. Through social learning, patriarchal structures are internalized as patriarchal ideologies, which are a set of beliefs that legitimize and justify the expression of male power and authority over women, including DV ( Smith, 1990 ; Yoon et al., 2015 ). More specifically, patriarchal beliefs include notions about the inherent inferiority of women and girls, men’s right to control decision-making in both public and private spheres, traditional and proscriptive gender roles, and the condoning of violence against women ( Our Watch, 2015 ; Yoon et al., 2015 ). Such ideologies preserve and strengthen the structural gender inequalities that set the necessary social context for DV to occur, by giving men the cultural, legal, and social mandate to use varying degrees of violence and control against women ( Our Watch, 2015 ; Yoon et al., 2015 ; World Health Organization, 2019 ).

Research from the United States indicates that positive attitudes toward violence against women and beliefs in traditional gender roles is associated with perpetration of DV ( Sugarman and Frankel, 1996 ; Stith et al., 2004 ). Similarly, Hah-Yahia ( Haj-Yahia, 2005 ) found that Jordanian men who subscribed to patriarchal ideologies were more likely to justify DV, blame women for violence against them, believe that women benefit from beating, and believe that men should not be punished for hurting their wives. Furthermore, a study of South Asian women living in the United States found that women who endorsed patriarchal beliefs were more likely to have experienced DV ( Adam and Schewe, 2007 ), and men in Pakistan who adhered to patriarchal ideology were more likely to use physical violence against their partners ( Adam and Schewe, 2007 ).

Despite its clear theoretical underpinnings, the relationship between patriarchal beliefs as a single construct and DV perpetration in Indian communities has, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, not been quantitatively examined. This is important, as although patriarchy is omnipresent in all societies on earth, culture shapes its manifestation through values, norms, beliefs, traditions, and familial roles that perpetuate patriarchal structures and ideologies ( Duncan, 2002 ).

In Indian families, power and authority is transmitted from father to the eldest son, meaning that females are expected to be subservient to males throughout their lifetimes; in childhood, to their fathers; upon marriage, to their husbands; and in old age (on occasion of the death of their husband), to their sons ( Bhuyan and Senturia, 2005 ). The impact of a father’s violence on children’s development can last a long time. Research suggests that the effects of this violence against girls in childhood are much more serious and deleterious than the effects of violence used by other men, or even a mother, against women such that women who suffer violence by their father have low levels of resilience in adulthood – even though they might report other perpetrators (such as the husband) as committing greater violence ( Tsirigotis and Łuczak, 2018 ). Therefore, women, as adults, can continue to be affected by patriarchal behaviors of men. In the Indian context, historically too, the hierarchy between men and women prevailed. For example, in ancient India, Smriti, Kautilya, and Manu philosophers demanded total subservience of women to their husbands ( Kumar, 2017 ). In spite of advances in society about gender equality and gender roles, such attitudes still exist in India. For instance, the Indian National Family Health Survey found that less than two-thirds, that is, 63% of married women participated in decision-making about major household matters, and less than 41% were allowed to go to places such as the market, a health facility, or visit relatives alone ( National Family Health Survey, 2017 ).

Prescriptive gender roles contribute to the incidence of domestic violence by positioning women as subordinate, with men therefore tasked with ‘protecting’ women and ensuring they uphold the gendered expectations and moral standards imposed on them ( Haj-Yahia, 2005 ; Satyen, 2021 ). Indeed, physical violence is viewed as a common and acceptable response to women’s “disobedience,” or failure to meet her husband’s expectations ( Jejeebhoy and Cook, 1997 ). For example, 42% of men and 52% of women believed that a husband is justified in beating his wife if she goes outside without telling him, neglects the house, argues with him, refuses to have sex, does not cook properly, is suspected of being unfaithful, or is disrespectful. This demonstrates that women have possibly internalized their “inferior” status in society and are more accepting of the inequality they face in the household. Honor killings, where women are killed by male family members for bringing shame to their families, still occurs in India and may represent the most extreme example of such attitudes ( Kumar and Gupta, 2022 ).

Taken together, the aforementioned findings clearly outline the broad links between DV and elements of patriarchal ideology including ideas about the inherent inferiority of women, men’s right to control decision-making, traditional gender roles, and condoning of violence against women ( Our Watch, 2015 ; Yoon et al., 2015 ). However, lacking from this literature is a culturally-specific, comprehensive assessment of the role of individual-level patriarchal beliefs in influencing Indian women’s experiences of DV. Understanding this relationship is vital in order to develop culturally tailored DV interventions and policies.

While cultural expressions of patriarchy provide the necessary context for DV to occur, according to intersectionality theory ( Kumar and Gupta, 2022 ), gender oppression intersects with other forms of inequality, such as poverty, racism, and migration status to increase the risk of DV for certain groups of Indian women ( Sokoloff and Dupont, 2005 ). For example, those who are younger, have more children, live in rural locations, have fewer years of schooling, or who are unemployed are more likely to experience DV during their lifetime ( Sokoloff and Dupont, 2005 ), and may be less likely to seek help for DV ( Leonardsson and San, 2017 ). Furthermore, migration has been identified as a key risk factor for DV ( Satyen et al., 2018 ; UNODC, 2018 ; Satyen, 2021 ), through practical and cultural barriers to accessing help and support ( Raj and Silverman, 2002 ; Colucci et al., 2013 ), as well as so-called ‘backlash’ factors, whereby men increase their use of violence and control following migration to more egalitarian locations, in response to the threatened loss of status and authority ( Dasgupta and Warrier, 1996 ; Zavala and Spohn, 2010 ). In examining DV, it is therefore important to acknowledge the compounding effects of such factors, while underscoring the central role of patriarchy ( Gundappa and Rathod, 2012 ).

The objective of this study was to examine Indian women’s experiences of abuse (physical, sexual, and psychological) and controlling behavior across 31 countries by examining the relationship between the patriarchal beliefs held by the women’s partners and the women’s experience of DV. Given our understanding of how patriarchal beliefs relate to DV, it was hypothesized that a greater endorsement of patriarchal beliefs by a woman’s partner would predict greater occurrence of abuse and controlling behavior during their relationship.

Research design

We examined the relationship between women’s partners’ patriarchal beliefs (as reported by the women) and the women’s experiences of DV using an intersectional feminist lens. This study used a quantitative, cross-sectional design using an online survey, which explored the impact of partners’ patriarchal beliefs on Indian women’s experiences of DV. The inclusion criteria for partaking in the study included: women who identified culturally as belonging to or having origins in the Indian sub-continent. They needed to have been in the past or currently be in an intimate partner relationship. They could be living in the Indian sub-continent or have migrated elsewhere in the world. They needed to also be 18 years and over to take part in the study and have minimal English language skills to comprehend the questionnaires.

Participants

Participants for this study were recruited from across the world via social media and culturally relevant organizations. Through targeted recruitment, Indian women 18 years or over who were currently in or had previously been in an intimate relationship with a male were asked to participate in the study. In addition to recruiting from India and Australia, data from the Government of India’s Ministry of External Affairs ( Population of Overseas Indians, 2018 ) was used to identify the 15 countries with the highest population of people of Indian origin and these were targeted for recruitment in addition to promoting the study across other countries. Target countries included: the United States, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar, the United Kingdom, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Pakistan, Canada, Kuwait, Mauritius, Qatar, Oman and Singapore. In total, 349 organizations and community groups were contacted by email and provided details of the study. Further, A Facebook page was set up for the project, and a recruitment advertisement was posted to 1,167 public groups relating to Indian women’s interests. In all, 825 participants aged between 18 and 77 years ( M = 35.64, SD = 8.71) from 31 countries across Asia (37.1%), Europe (18.3%), Oceania (23.8%), the Americas (16.1%) and Africa (3.2%) took part. The majority of them were born in India ( n = 720, 87.3%), but 59.3% had migrated from their country (India or other) of birth. See Table 1 for a detailed summary of their demographic characteristics.

Table 1 . Demographic characteristics of the sample ( N = 825).

Participants completed an online questionnaire that assessed demographic information, their experiences of domestic violence, and their partners’ patriarchal beliefs.

Demographic information

Participants’ age, country of birth, country of residence, migration status, religion, marital status, and educational attainment were collected.

Domestic violence

Experiences of abuse including physical, sexual, and psychological and controlling behaviors perpetrated by women’s partners and/or his family members were measured using the 63-item Indian Family Violence and Control Scale [IFVCS; ( National Family Health Survey, 2017 )]. The IFVCS was designed for use in the Indian population, with items being derived from informant and expert interviews with an Indian sample to ensure it captured culturally-specific forms of DV ( Kalokhe et al., 2015 , 2016 ). Preliminary validation of the IFVCS suggested that the scale has strong internal consistency, and good concurrent and construct validity ( Kalokhe et al., 2016 ). Cronbach’s alphas were calculated for the current sample, indicating that both the control and abuse subscales had very good internal reliability (0.94 and 0.97 respectively).

The control subscale consisted of 14 items which asked women to rate their access to various freedoms during their entire relationship (e.g., “freedom to spend my own money on personal things”) on a 4-point scale, ranging from 0 ( never ), to 3 ( often ). Total scores for this subscale ranged from 0 to 42, with lower scores indicating lower access to freedom, or more frequent controlling behavior. The 49-item abuse subscale comprised of statements relevant to psychological (22 items), physical (16 items), and sexual violence (11 items) domains and asked women about the frequency of abusive behaviors (e.g., “burnt me or threatened to burn me with a cigarette”) on a 4-point scale, from 0 ( never ) to 3 ( about once a month ). Higher scores indicated greater frequency of abuse, with the total possible abuse score ranging from 0 to147.

Partner’s patriarchal beliefs

Women’s partner’s patriarchal beliefs were measured using 10 items derived from the 5-item Husband’s Patriarchal Beliefs Scale, which was originally developed by Smith (1990) and later adapted by Ahmed-Ghosh (2004) , with the addition of 5 items from the 37-item Patriarchal Beliefs Scale ( Yoon et al., 2015 ). The 10 resultant items captured each of the core dimensions of patriarchal ideology identified by Yoon ( Yoon et al., 2015 ); these include beliefs about the institutional power of men, the inherent inferiority of women, and gendered domestic roles. The scale asked women to rate their perception of their partner’s level of agreement to various patriarchal beliefs (e.g., “men are inherently smarter than women”) on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 ( strongly agree ). Scores ranged from 10 to 70, with higher scores indicating greater endorsement of patriarchal ideology. Cronbach’s alpha was calculated as.96, indicating this new scale had very high internal consistency.

This study was guided by the WHO’s ethical and safety recommendations for DV research ( Ellsberg and Heise, 2002 ) and received approval from the institutional ethics committee in compliance with American Psychological Association (2017) ethical standards ( American Psychological Association, 2017 ). All persons who saw an advertisement or accessed the online link received a plain language statement, as well as information about DV support services in their country, regardless of whether or not they completed the survey. To protect the safety of participants, a Quick Escape button was programmed into the survey. The survey (in English) was anonymous and took approximately 20 min to complete.

Data screening and cleaning

Data cleaning was conducted prior to analysis. Cases missing more than 50% of their data were removed from the sample. For the remaining cases, random missing values were replaced with the series mean. All items across the three abuse subscales, and the control subscale of the IFVCS were summed to obtain a total abuse, and total control score, respectively. For the purposes of regression analyses, employment was dichotomised as employed versus not employed, and education as tertiary education versus non-tertiary education. Each nominal independent variable was treated as a set of dummy variables, with one variable serving as the reference group. For the regression analyses, only women who had reported some form of abuse were included in the analysis; thus, the 15.9% of the sample that reported no abuse were excluded from the analyses.

Analytical strategy

First, descriptive analyses were undertaken to determine the extent of DV and partners’ patriarchal beliefs in the sample and these are presented in Table 2 . As control and abuse were measured on different scales, two hierarchical multiple regression analyses (as seen in Table 3 ) were conducted to test the central hypothesis. For each regression analysis, a three-stage hierarchical regression, and bottom-up model building strategy was used. In model 1, a univariate model including patriarchal beliefs, and either abuse or control as the outcome measure was tested. This provided a baseline estimation of the variance in abuse or control predicted by patriarchal beliefs, enabling estimation of the contribution of the variables added hierarchically in subsequent models. In Model 2, demographic variables (age, marital status, educational attainment, employment status, migration status, and continent of residence) identified in the literature review as potential confounders were entered into the model; all demographic variables were entered into the model together. Two-way interaction effects between patriarchal beliefs and each of the demographic characteristics were examined to exclude potential moderation effects.

Table 2 . Descriptive statistics for abuse ( N = 729), control ( N = 825) and partners’ patriarchal beliefs ( N = 729).

Table 3 . Summary of hierarchical regression analysis for variables predicting control ( N = 579).

Descriptive analyses

Abuse and control.

Results (seen in Table 2 ) demonstrated that 72.5% of women reported having experienced at least one instance of abuse in their lifetime, while 15.9% reported no abuse. Across the different subscales, 69.9% had experienced some form of psychological abuse, 45.2% had experienced physical abuse and 21.7% had experienced sexual abuse. Over a third of participants (35.1%) had on at least one occasion had an aspect of their freedom denied by their partner.

Patriarchal beliefs

The descriptive statistics for patriarchal beliefs are also presented in Table 2 . The Mean scores ( M = 26.27, SD = 16.28) indicated an overall tendency for partners to disagree with patriarchal beliefs.

Multiple regression analyses

A detailed summary of the hierarchical regression is presented in Table 3 .

In Model 1, the univariate model, patriarchal beliefs was associated with a statistically significant 14.4% of the variance in controlling behavior. Women whose partners endorsed stronger patriarchal beliefs had less access to freedom in their relationship ( ß  = −0.38, p  < 0.001). Introducing demographic variables in Model 2 using the Stepwise method was associated with a statistically significant additional 10.3% of variance in control. Specifically, women experienced significantly more control (<0.05) with increasing age and significantly less control (<0.01) when they were separated compared to women who were married. The beta value for patriarchal beliefs remained statistically significant and largely unchanged with the addition of the demographic variables ( ß = −0.35, p  < 0.001). Patriarchal beliefs alone accounted for 11.49% ( sr 2  = 0.12) of the total variance in controlling behavior. In addition to patriarchal beliefs, two of the 11 demographic variables were significant predictors of control. Inspection of two-way interaction effects between PBS and each of the demographic characteristics indicated no evidence of moderation occurring. The final model accounted for 23.3% of the variance in control F (12, 566) = 15.61, p  < 0.001, which is considered a large effect ( Cohen, 1988 ).

A detailed summary of the hierarchical regression is presented in Table 4 .

Table 4 . Summary of hierarchical regression analysis for variables predicting abuse ( N = 577).

For Model 1, the univariate model, partners’ patriarchal beliefs was associated with a statistically significant 11.4% of the variance in experience of abuse. Women who perceived their partners held stronger patriarchal beliefs were more likely to have been abused ( ß  = 0.34, p  < 0.001). The addition of demographic variables was associated with a statistically significant additional 5.7% of the variability in abuse (Model 2). This final model explained 15.5% of the variance in abuse, adjusted R 2  = 0.155, F (12, 564) = 9.79, p  < 0.001, which is considered a medium effect ( Cohen, 1988 ). The beta value for patriarchal beliefs remained a significant independent predictor of abuse ( ß  = 0.31 , p  < 0.001). Patriarchal beliefs contributed the highest amount of variance in abuse, independently contributing 9% (sr 2  = 0.09). Inspection of two-way interaction effects between PBS and each of the demographic characteristics indicated no evidence of moderation.

This study is the first to examine the relationship between domestic violence and a partner’s adherence to patriarchal ideology in the global Indian context. The findings support the hypothesis that women who perceived their partners to endorse greater patriarchal beliefs were more likely to have been abused and subjected to controlling behavior.

The finding that partners’ patriarchal beliefs predicted DV victimization lends support to the longstanding feminist propositions that DV occurs mainly in contexts where patriarchal ideologies are dominant ( Jejeebhoy and Cook, 1997 ; Haj-Yahia, 2005 ; Satyen, 2021 ). In this study, women who believed that their partners viewed women in general as inherently inferior to men, legitimized male authority in public and private arenas, endorsed prescriptive gender roles, and condoned the use of violence for gender-role violation were more likely to be abused or controlled by their male partners. This finding is consistent with the limited existing studies that have demonstrated the relationship between male patriarchal ideologies and DV perpetration across three countries including the United States ( Sugarman and Frankel, 1996 ; Stith et al., 2004 ; Haj-Yahia, 2005 ; Adam and Schewe, 2007 ; Watto, 2009 ). By contributing to the understanding of the experiences of Indian women globally, this study highlights the pervasive and enduring negative influence of the patriarchal ideology on women.

The relationship between patriarchal beliefs and DV persisted after controlling for a range of factors such age, educational attainment, marital status, migration status, employment, and geographical location that have been previously used to explain DV victimization in Indian populations [(e.g., Sabri et al., 2014 ; Gender, 2015 ; Kalokhe et al., 2018 )]. It further emerged as the strongest independent predictor of women’s experiences of both abuse and control. Such a finding cautions against any theory of DV in Indian communities that overlooks or minimizes gender as an explanatory factor. It also suggests that merely focusing on the individual characteristics of DV victims is problematic in that it conceals the ways in which DV is embedded in broader sociocultural structures including the violence committed in childhood by a father [(e.g., Tsirigotis and Łuczak, 2018 )]. This finding removes some of responsibility and shame from both victims of DV and from individual cultural groups, by firmly situating their experiences within a patriarchal framework. This finding also has fundamental practical implications for understanding and preventing DV in Indian communities, by identifying patriarchal beliefs and practices as targets for intervention that are amenable to effecting social change in the continuance of DV.

An unexpected finding was that age, educational attainment, marital status, geographical location, migration status, and employment status did not moderate the relationship between patriarchal beliefs and DV experiences. These findings could be considered in light of the universal phenomenon of gendered violence in women and the significant role of patriarchal beliefs. This is in contrast to an intersectional framework ( Crenshaw, 1991 ) which suggests that different social factors interact and intersect with gender oppression to place certain groups of women at increased risk of DV. While it is possible that this finding may be an artefact of the specific sample included in this study, we did not measure structural patriarchy, for example, casteism and classism, which may be a better proxy for the macro-level gender oppressions and inequalities referred to in intersectionality theory ( Heise, 1998 ). In support of this explanation, one salient finding from the present study was that continent of residence was not an independent predictor of either abuse or controlling behavior and did not moderate the relationship between patriarchal beliefs and DV. This suggests that patriarchal beliefs can prevail despite structural gains in women’s empowerment or through migrating to more egalitarian locations ( Hunnicutt, 2009 ). However, the findings also demonstrated that women experienced greater controlling behavior as they became older and, in contrast to women who were married, those who were separated experienced less control. The latter findings could relate to lower levels of control because the women had separated from their partner. It is also possible that as women are older, they are more invested in their relationships and less likely to challenge greater levels of control by their partners. In sum, women’s specific social context does not appear to specify the appropriate conditions for the translation of patriarchal ideas about gender relations and, in particular, DV ( Yoon et al., 2015 ). The findings of this study highlight the need to engage with men at the individual level to challenge the patriarchal beliefs and norms that propagate, justify, and excuse DV.

Based on the findings of this study, it is clear that interventions should use a ‘gender transformative’ approach ( Gupta and Sharma, 2003 ) which acknowledges that DV is inherently gendered and a product of patriarchal ideologies. These interventions could be provided in group or individual formats, should be culturally-tailored, and work with men to promote women’s access to authority and decision-making, as well as challenge traditional gender roles and acceptance of DV ( Violence against women in Australia An overview of research and approaches to primary prevention, 2017 ). Encouraging evidence from the international literature suggest that such programs can lead to short-term changes in both attitudes and behavior, including decreased self-reported use of physical, sexual, and psychological DV ( Whitaker et al., 2006 ; Barker et al., 2010 ). However, the literature does not reveal if such programs have been piloted in Indian communities.

Limitations

The primary limitations of the current study relate to the sample characteristics and subsequent generalizability of findings. This study used a convenience sample and as such may not adequately represent Indian women across a range of societies. However, the strength is that women from 31 countries took part in the study. Second, the Partner’s Patriarchal Beliefs scale asked women to rate their perception of their partner’s beliefs, and therefore may not have accurately reflected men’s ideologies. However, attempting to understand and validate women’s lived experiences and perceptions is important in any feminist enquiry ( Yllö and Bograd, 1984 ) and wives’ accounts of their husband’s behavior have been found to be more accurate than husband’s account of his own behavior ( Arias and Beach, 1987 ). Nevertheless, future research may wish to further establish the validity and psychometric properties of the scale used. Finally, the cross-sectional nature of this study limits the extent to which we can draw conclusions regarding the temporality or causal nature of the observed associations. While theories of patriarchy suggest it fuels DV, it is also plausible that use of DV also strengthens patriarchal beliefs, by further reinforcing a system of male domination and female subordination in the family. Future studies employing a prospective or longitudinal design and representative sample will strengthen the practical significance of the findings described in this study.

Conclusions and implications for future research

Notwithstanding the aforementioned limitations, this study is novel in showing the effects of individual-level patriarchal beliefs on women’s experiences of both abuse and control using a large, cross-national sample that adjusted for a range of established risk factors and employed a validated, culturally-sensitive measure of DV. The findings raise awareness of the extent of DV in Indian communities and emphasize the need to collectively acknowledge how gender and culture interact to shape women’s experiences of DV. Such an understanding can have far-reaching implications for the reduction and prevention of DV in Indian communities, by providing mental health practitioners, community leaders, policy makers, women’s activists, and the wider community more broadly, a principal target for intervention. Given the observed associations between partners’ patriarchal beliefs and both abuse and controlling behavior, efforts should be targeted at developing culturally-tailored education strategies aimed at challenging men’s enactment of their investment in patriarchy regardless of their social situation, includingtheir education level, religion, and caste.

While this study focused on patriarchal beliefs as an explanatory model for DV, future research may wish to incorporate other theoretical frameworks in order to develop a comprehensive, integrated, ecological theory of DV that considers other individual, interpersonal, and sociocultural factors alongside patriarchal ideology. Furthermore, whilst this study focused on men’s beliefs, women’s perceptual, cognitive, and behavioral responses to DV are also shaped by patriarchal beliefs ( Ahmed-Ghosh, 2004 ). Therefore, future research should examine how patriarchal beliefs influence other DV processes such as reduced help-seeking behavior that place women at further risk of DV; the intersections between the prevalent Indian social contexts of gender, caste, and violence should also be examined – this will enable the more nuanced understanding of whether women from some castes, especially the lower castes are more prone to controlling and abusive behavior than women in the upper castes [see Deshpande (2003) and Khubchandani et al. (2018) for a broad review of the discrimination between people of different castes and the intersections of this with gender in the Indian society]. Finally, given that culturally-diverse groups of women remain underrepresented in the DV literature, future researchers should consider how patriarchal beliefs manifest in other communities to further enhance our understanding of DV and pave the way for the prevention of violence against all women.

Data availability statement

The datasets presented in this article are not readily available because the data is sensitive by nature and according to the Deakin University Human Research Ethics Committee protocol, we are not allowed to share this data, even in anonymized form. Requests to access the datasets should be directed to [email protected] .

Ethics statement

The studies involving humans were approved by the Deakin University Human Research Ethics Committee. The studies were conducted in accordance with the local legislation and institutional requirements. The participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

Author contributions

LS: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Validation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing. MB-I: Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – original draft. BR: Data curation, Formal analysis, Validation, Writing – review & editing.

The author(s) declare that no financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Acknowledgments

We thank women from across the world who generously gave their time and shared their experiences by completing the survey. We also acknowledge the feedback and suggestions provided by two reviewers that helped strengthen our manuscript.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Keywords: domestic violence, patriarchal beliefs, control, feminist framework, Indian communities

Citation: Satyen L, Bourke-Ibbs M and Rowland B (2024) A global study into Indian women’s experiences of domestic violence and control: the role of patriarchal beliefs. Front. Psychol . 15:1273401. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1273401

Received: 07 August 2023; Accepted: 05 January 2024; Published: 01 March 2024.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2024 Satyen, Bourke-Ibbs and Rowland. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Lata Satyen, [email protected]

† These authors have contributed equally to this work

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Domestic violence against women in India: A systematic review of a decade of quantitative studies

Affiliations.

• 1 a Division of Infectious Diseases , Emory University School of Medicine , Atlanta , GA , USA.
• 2 b Hubert Department of Global Health , Emory University Rollins School of Public Health , Atlanta , GA , USA.
• 3 c Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education , Emory University Rollins School of Public Health , Atlanta , GA , USA.
• 4 d Center for Sexuality and Health Disparities , University of Michigan School of Public Health and School of Nursing , Ann Arbor , MI , USA.
• 5 e General Internal Medicine , Temple University School of Medicine , Philadelphia , PA , USA.
• 6 f Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences , National AIDS Research Institute , Pune , India.
• PMID: 26886155
• PMCID: PMC4988937
• DOI: 10.1080/17441692.2015.1119293

Domestic violence (DV) is prevalent among women in India and has been associated with poor mental and physical health. We performed a systematic review of 137 quantitative studies published in the prior decade that directly evaluated the DV experiences of Indian women to summarise the breadth of recent work and identify gaps in the literature. Among studies surveying at least two forms of abuse, a median 41% of women reported experiencing DV during their lifetime and 30% in the past year. We noted substantial inter-study variance in DV prevalence estimates, attributable in part to different study populations and settings, but also to a lack of standardisation, validation, and cultural adaptation of DV survey instruments. There was paucity of studies evaluating the DV experiences of women over age 50, residing in live-in relationships, same-sex relationships, tribal villages, and of women from the northern regions of India. Additionally, our review highlighted a gap in research evaluating the impact of DV on physical health. We conclude with a research agenda calling for additional qualitative and longitudinal quantitative studies to explore the DV correlates proposed by this quantitative literature to inform the development of a culturally tailored DV scale and prevention strategies.

Keywords: India; Intimate partner violence; domestic violence; review; spouse abuse.

Publication types

• Systematic Review
• Domestic Violence / statistics & numerical data
• Domestic Violence / trends*
• India / epidemiology
• Middle Aged
• Prevalence*
• Spouse Abuse / statistics & numerical data
• Spouse Abuse / trends*

Grants and funding

• K01 TW009664/TW/FIC NIH HHS/United States
• R25 TW009337/TW/FIC NIH HHS/United States

Essay On Domestic Violence

500 words essay on domestic violence.

Domestic violence refers to the violence and abuse which happens in a domestic setting like cohabitation or marriage. It is important to remember that domestic violence is not just physical but any kind of behaviour that tries to gain power and control over the victim. It can affect people from all walks of life and it basically subjects towards a partner, spouse or intimate family member. Through an essay on domestic violence, we will go through its causes and effects.

Causes of Domestic Violence

Often women and children are the soft targets of domestic violence. Domestic violence is a gruesome crime that also causes a number of deaths. Some of the most common causes of domestic violence are illiteracy and economical dependency on the menfolk.

The male-dominated society plays an important role in this problem. Further, dowry is also one of the leading causes which have the consequence of violence against newly-wed brides. In many parts of the world, physically assaulting women and passing horrendous remarks is common.

Moreover, children also become victims of this inhuman behaviour more than often. It is important to recognize the double standards and hypocrisy of society. A lot of the times, the abuser is either psychotic or requires psychological counselling.

However, in a more general term, domestic violence is the outcome of cumulative irresponsible behaviour which a section of society demonstrates. It is also important to note that solely the abuser is not just responsible but also those who allow this to happen and act as mere mute spectators.

Types of Domestic Violence

Domestic violence has many ill-effects which depend on the kind of domestic violence happening. It ranges from being physical to emotional and sexual to economic. A physical abuser uses physical force which injures the victim or endangers their life.

It includes hitting, punching, choking, slapping, and other kinds of violence. Moreover, the abuser also denies the victim medical care. Further, there is emotional abuse in which the person threatens and intimidates the victim. It also includes undermining their self-worth.

It includes threatening them with harm or public humiliation. Similarly, constant name-calling and criticism also count as emotional abuse. After that, we have sexual abuse in which the perpetrator uses force for unwanted sexual activity.

If your partner does not consent to it, it is forced which makes it sexual abuse. Finally, we have economic abuse where the abuser controls the victim’s money and their economic resources.

They do this to exert control on them and make them dependent solely on them. If your partner has to beg you for money, then it counts as economic abuse. This damages the self-esteem of the victim.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Conclusion of the Essay on Domestic Violence

To conclude, domestic violence has many forms which include physical aggression like kicking and biting and it can also be sexual or emotional. It is essential to recognize the signs of domestic violence and report the abuser if it is happening around you or to you.

FAQ of Essay on Domestic Violence

Question 1: Why is domestic violence an issue?

Answer 1: Domestic violence has a major impact on the general health and wellbeing of individuals. It is because it causes physical injury, anxiety, depression. Moreover, it also impairs social skills and increases the likelihood that they will participate in practices harmful to their health, like self-harm or substance abuse.

Question 2: How does domestic violence affect a woman?

Answer 2: Domestic violence affects women in terms of ill health. It causes serious consequences on their mental and physical health which includes reproductive and sexual health. It also includes injuries, gynaecological problems, depression, suicide and more.

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Women And Domestic Violence : India Essay

Women and Domestic Violence India Chillious Cleveland State University This paper was prepared or Social Work 622, Section 480, taught by Professor Seck Violence has been an ongoing issue, and has increased over the years. There are many different types of violence that can take place, one being domestic violence . Domestic violence is defined as a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner. Domestic violence can be physical, sexual, emotional, economic, or psychological actions or threats of actions that influence another person (U.S. Department of Justice, 2014). There is an increase of domestic violence with women being the victims, although men have a high number of being victims of Domestic Violence also. The National Coalition against Domestic Violence states that 85% of domestic violence victims are women (NCADV, 2014). This review explored the different factors that affect women who have been or are currently in domestic violent relationships, with one major issue being substance abuse and the services, if any, that were provided to them, and if they were beneficial. Starting from childhood, domestic violence within the home affects children greatly. There is an estimated 3 million children who witness domestic violence within the home on a yearly basis (CNN, 2014). Studies typically show that young adolescent girls may act out in

Domestic Violence : An Epidemic And The Number One Health Concern

Domestic violence is an epidemic and the number one health concern in our country. There are more abusers and their victims compared to past years. As a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship, domestic violence is used by one person to gain or maintain power and control over another one. It can be physical, sexual, emotional, and economic abuse and not look the same in every relationship because every relationship is different. This kind of abuse affects people of all ages and sexes, socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, education and employment levels. Abuse towards children and the elderly can be violent or aggressive behavior. Thus, there are many types of abuse that one can suffer; awareness of the signs of domestic violence is especially important before getting into any kind of intimate relationship.

Social Justice Or Injustice : Domestic Violence

Domestic violence (DV) has and continues to affect millions of, women, men, children and the elderly every day. National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, defines Domestic violence as, “hurtful, repeated and intentional behavior that one person uses to maintain power and control over another in an intimate relationship.” (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, n.d.) Abuse impacts many individuals from various backgrounds. Abuse comes in many forms, verbal, emotional, physical, sexual and, covers a wide range of tactics to establish and maintain power and control. A predominant form of DV is Intimate Partner Violence is also known as (IPV,) which affects millions of people every year, primarily women

Domestic Violence Prevention Plan

This is because the bodies tasked with creating awareness will adequately inform the victims, perpetrators, as well as the general public on the identification and effects of domestic violence, and the prevention strategies of domestic violence between intimate partners. At the same time, it will be instrumental in pooling together affirmative actions that are necessary in reducing any further occurrences of domestic violence between intimate partners. Domestic Violence especially between intimate partners is linked to a multitude of negative social and health outcomes. When it comes to this type of domestic violence, women are more affected than men. As such, it is women that report more severe injuries as a result of the violence they face. The cycle of domestic violence between intimate partners describes a pattern of recurring violence, as well as the tendency for violence to keep escalating over time. Therefore, one of the most unwanted effects of domestic violence is homicide. Women are more likely to seek support whenever they experience violence. However, this is not always possible because such women are faced with various barriers when accessing services, which ultimately affect their decisions to remain or leave an abusive relationship. Such barriers include stigma, racism, as well as gender discrimination that further limit their access to numerous services and compromise their health and

Domestic Violence And Its Effects On Our Society Essay

Domestic violence, alternatively referred to as Intimate Partner Violence, is defined by the Department of Justice as “a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner.” While domestic violence is commonly thought of as only physical or sexual abuse, domestic violence can also be emotional, economic, or psychological. Domestic violence has remained constant in society throughout history, even though over time society’s response to the issue has changed. While domestic violence affects everyone regardless of race, gender, age, etc. it is estimated that approximately 90% of all victims are women. For the purpose of this paper, I will be focusing on

Women In Intimate Partner Violence

Domestic violence exists everywhere and affects all people regardless of socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, sex, ethnicity, or religion. Most times physical violence is accompanied by emotional abuse and controlling behaviors. The result of domestic violence includes physical injury, psychological issues, and death. Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) occurs in 1 of 4 women in the United States and can be correlated with a loss of emotional, social, physical and mental health. Intimate Partner Violence is an issue that does not receive a lot of recognition and is overlooked majority of the time. There is a lot of information on women in intimate partner violence relationships that explains how it affects women physically, mentally, and socially.

Domestic Violence Against Women During The United States

Violence against women is a substantial public health problem in the United States. According to data from the criminal justice system, hospital, and medical records, mental health records, social services, and surveys, thousands of women are injured or killed each year as a result of violence, many by someone they are involved with or were involved with intimately. Nearly one-third of female homicide victims are killed by an intimate partner (Federal Bureau of Investigation 2001). Throughout this, many will read about intimate partner violence also called

Harris County Domestic Violence Analysis

For children living in violent and unsafe homes, they are learning that hitting and verbally abusing someone is the proper way of communicating love. According to Holt, Buckley & Whelan (2008), “as they learn a generational cycle begins in which children grow up to be victims and abusers as adults.” The effects that domestic violence has on children are heartbreaking. Some of the major effects are; increased risk of poor health, poor education, isolation, learned helplessness and decreased satisfaction in such family environment.

Domestic Violence Case Study

• 9 Works Cited

Domestic violence is an epidemic in our society with dramatic, negative effects on individuals, families and communities. Domestic violence is a crime that knows no economic, racial, ethnic, religious, age or gender limits. Women who are victims of domestic violence most likely are also victims of sexual assault and, stalking. A domestic violence victim may experience systematic rape in addition to physical and psychological abuse. According to Backman, (p.54) nearly one in every four women are beaten or raped by a partner during adulthood. Three women are killed by a current or former intimate partner each day in America, on average women are at an increased risk of harm shortly after separation from an abusive partner.

Intimate Partner Violence Essay

Intimate partner violence is a dangerous and frightening issue threatening women worldwide. Intimate partner violence, also known as domestic violence, describes a cycle of abuse that involves either actual or threatened physical, sexual, psychological or emotional violence performed on someone by a spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend, or significant other (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Although it is not often discussed, intimate partner abuse is an incredibly common public health problem. In fact, it is one of the most common forms of violence facing women of all ages, ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds, in which more than four million women in the United States experience abuse from a partner each year (Office on Women’s

Domestic Violence And Its Effects On Children

It is estimated that between 10 and 20 percent of children in the United States are exposed to domestic violence annually (Carrell & Hoekstra, 2010). What are the thoughts and feelings of children who are exposed to violence within the home? Children who are exposed to domestic violence can become fearful and anxious. They tend to be on guard, watching and waiting for the next event to occur, a sense of hypervigilance. What are the outcomes of these children as they get older? Does the cycle of abuse continue as adults? The answers to these questions will be further discussed in this paper.

Domestic Violence And Violence Against Women

“Domestic violence is a type of abuse by one or both partners in marriage, friends, family, dating or cohabitation” (Aziz & Mahmoud, 2010). There are many forms of abuse from verbal and emotional to physical that often escalates over time in intensity for the victim. Data from the criminal justice system, hospital patient medical records and mental health records, police reports, surveys and social services reports of thousands of women revealed that many are injured and killed as a result of violence from someone close to them. “The US Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) defines domestic violence as a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner regardless of race, age, sexual orientation, religion, or gender” (Robertson & Murachver, 2009). Researchers and the criminal justice system have not been able to agree on a clear definition to domestic violence which can range from physical injury, stalking, verbal abuse and humiliation, denial of shelter and access to money, and intimidation through aggressive behaviors. The definition of domestic violence may vary but the results from physical injury, mental and emotional trauma, and sometimes even death can last a life time.

Essay on Domestic Violence Informative Outline

According to statistics found by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Every nine seconds a woman is abused by her husband or intimate partner. At least 1 in every 4 women and 1 in every 9 men have been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in their lifetime. Most often the abuser is one of their own family. Domestic violence is a problem that somehow affects every one of us in this room at some time and is actually the leading cause of injury to women -- more than car accidents, muggings and rapes combined.

Domestic Violence Effects On Children Essay

Domestic violence affects 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men (NCADV, 2015). Although the devastating effects that domestic violence has on women are well known, there is a population of domestic violence victims that we tend to overlook. These are the children of the women and men who are in domestic violence situations. Children are the invisible victims when it comes to domestic violence. There are many statistics being thrown around when it comes to the number of children who are exposed to domestic violence; they range from as little as 200,000 to even 3-18 million (Sousa et. al., 2011). A 2001 study discovered that in 75% of the cases in their study, children were present in the home during the assaults (Hutchison & Hirschel, 2001).

Cause And Effect Of Domestic Violence

Domestic violence refers to abusive behavior in any relationship that is inflicted on a partner to gain or maintain power and control over another partner. Domestic violence can be physical, sexual, emotional, or psychological. Domestic violence includes behaviors that intimidate, manipulate, humiliate, isolate, frighten, terrorize, coerce, threaten, blame, hurt, injure, or wound someone. Domestic violence can happen to anyone, regardless of their race, age, sexual orientation, religion, or gender; and it also occurs in both opposite-sex and same-sex relationships; domestic violence also affects people of all socioeconomic backgrounds and education levels (Justice, The United States Department of, 2017). This topic has attracted a lot of discussion and research because of its dominance and complexity. This essay, therefore seeks to look at the causes and effects of domestic violence.

Violence Against Women in India

Despite the uncertainty over the exact cause of greater numbers of reports of sexual violence against women in India, sexual violence remains an underreported crime because of the stigma and social repercussions associated with reporting such incidents (Asian Human Rights Commission cite). The most recent National Family Health Survey conducted in households across India (cite) from 2005 to 2006 showed that 85 percent of women did not tell anyone about sexual violence they had experienced, and only 8 percent of female victims of sexual violence approached someone for help. According to the survey, those women who came forward with their stories of abuse did so with family members. Less than 5 percent of women who had experienced sexual violence turned to law enforcement authorities, domestic non-profit organizations or non-governmental organizations with resources to help victims of such violence, or medical practitioners (cite). Specifically, just 2 percent of women who had experienced abuse brought their allegations to the attention of police (cite).

Related Topics

• Domestic violence

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Domestic violence during COVID ‐19 pandemic: The case for Indian women

Sucharita maji.

1 Department of Humanities & Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur India

Saurabh Bansod

2 Data Science Division, Bakken & Bæck, Oslo Norway

Tushar Singh

3 Department of Psychology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi Uttar Pradesh, India

Associated Data

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Domestic violence is one of the most pernicious gendered ailments of human society. Researchers have confirmed the inevitable consequences of domestic violence (physical, sexual, and emotional) in increased vulnerability to psychopathologies in addition to physical morbidity. Domestic violence cases are vast in India, and the numbers are further aggravated at an alarming rate during the COVID‐19 pandemic. The present study aimed at exploring the cases of domestic violence among Indian women during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Newspapers reporting the incidents of domestic violence during the last 5 years were analysed to explore the issues related to the surge in domestic violence incidents during the COVID‐19 lockdown period. A major increase in domestic violence cases was observed during the COVID‐19 period as compared to the previous years. Also, the cases were higher during the initial phases of the pandemic but gradually decreased as time progressed.The impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on women was unprecedented and worse than before. Home containment as a measure to protect the health and well‐being of the general public has resulted in increased sufferings for women in terms of both sufferings from diseases and increased domestic violence.

1. INTRODUCTION

The COVID‐19 pandemic has been felt among the world populace as one of the most prominent threats to humankind. The damaging consequences of the disease have not only been limited to the loss of life but also have severe socio‐psychological consequences. As of 20 December 2020, over 1.6 million people across the globe have lost their lives (WHO,  2020 ). The psychological impact of Covid‐19 pandemic and the consequent lockdowns have resulted in extreme consequences for almost everyone. It has resulted in fears, anxiety, and sadness not only among common people (Bhanot, Singh, Verma, & Sharad,  2020 ) but also among healthcare professionals (Jaiswal, Singh, & Arya,  2020 ), which has led to an alarming increase in suicidal and other psychiatric conditions (Raj, Ghosh, Singh, Verma, & Arya,  2020 ). However, the impact of this pandemic on women has been even worse and is worth exploring. The lockdowns and other social isolation measures implemented by all affected countries have forced women to be confined to their homes despite the fact that they are subjected to family violence, with limited or no social support options available (van Gelder et al., 2020). As a consequence, the steady rise of domestic violence during the coronavirus pandemic has surely come up as an additional and equally potent challenge at the global level. A surge in domestic violence is equivalently observed in the global South, including India (Mittal & Singh,  2020 ), and the current study is an attempt to explore this issue.

WHO defines intimate partner violence as ‘a physical, sexual, or psychological coercive act by a current or former partner or spouse to a woman’ (WHO,  2013 ). There are multiple psychological theorizations of intimate partner violence. Psychoanalytic theorists, for instance, emphasise on relational masochism to explain a woman's decision to persevere with an abusive partner. However, this theory has been thoroughly criticised (Fisher,  1986 ) for indirectly blaming the victims, reinforcing violence, and considering masochism as a feminine trait (Young & Gerson,  1991 ). Traumatic bonding theory (Dutton & Painter,  1993 ) attributes the power imbalance between the partners in explaining relational violence. When the abuse is intermittent, the attachment between the partners is strengthened through a negative reinforcement mechanism, that is, the removal of battering (Young & Gerson,  1991 ).

Feminist scholars contend that the patriarchal system's gender‐power dynamics is at the core of domestic violence (Dobash & Dobash,  1979 ; Yllo,  1993 ). Johnson and Leone ( 2005 ) referred to the term ‘intimate terrorism’ to refer to the violence emerging from the need to exert control over the partner; this male coercion functions as a ‘resource’ in controlling the partner (Goode,  1971 ). The status inconsistency (Yllö,  1984 ) between men and women is one valid predictor of domestic violence.

Thus, domestic violence results from ‘cultural values, rules, and practices that afford men more status and power than women’ (Torres,  1991 ). This explains why the pervasiveness of domestic violence differs across cultures and countries. For instance, in South Asian countries, the widespread prevalence of domestic violence has cultural roots in gender roles, asymmetrical gender expectations, patrifocal family system, sex difference in resources, and dowry practice (Ayyub,  2000 ; Khan, Townsend, & Pelto,  2014 ).

In India, the patriarchal dogma is evident in every sphere of life. In Indian families, males are referred to as annadata (the giver of food), which portrays the man‐worshipping tradition and male's upper handedness (Bhattacharya,  2004 ). The National Crime Records Bureau,  2018 report revealed that ‘Cruelty by Husband or his relatives’ in the domestic space is the highest reported ‘cruelty against women’ and consists of 31.9% of the total reported cases. The dowry system is also one of the most crucial predictors of domestic violence in India (Menon,  2020 ; Srinivasan & Bedi,  2007 ); in 2018, 7,166 cases of dowry deaths were documented. Thus, domestic violence has been one of the prevailing gendered ailments of Indian society for long.

1.1. Domestic violence during COVID ‐19 pandemic

Although the prevalence of domestic violence in Indian society has always been troublesome, it worsened at an alarming rate during the COVID‐19 pandemic (Mittal & Singh,  2020 ). This aligns with the global rise of domestic violence cases during this pandemic (Roesch, Amin, Gupta, & García‐Moreno,  2020 ; UN‐Women Report, 2020), often being referred to as the ‘double pandemic’ (Bettinger‐Lopez & Bro,  2020 ), ‘shadow pandemic’ (UN Women, 2020; Ravindran & Shah,  2020 ), ‘hidden epidemic’ (Neil,  2020 ), and ‘the other pandemic’ (Nazri,  2020 ). In a recent review of the gender‐based violence during the COVID‐19 pandemic, Mittal and Singh ( 2020 ) noted a significant increase in the cases of domestic violence. There was also an evident lack of supportive policies and resources for these women, as they were disconnected from their support networks during the COVID‐19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown. But for these few attempts to study the prevalence and consequences of domestic violence, there are few studies on domestic violence cases in India and their potential impact on their mental health during the COVID‐19 pandemic. The present paper attempts to fill this gap using a systematic review of newspaper reports of domestic violence cases during the COVID‐19 pandemic.

In order to explore the domestic violence crisis during the COVID‐19 pandemic, we relied on the analysis of newspaper data of three Indian newspapers: Dainik Jagran (Hindi), The Times of India (English), and The Hindu (English) during March–July, 2020. There have been limited published academic works and government survey reports on domestic violence cases. It was also not possible to collect empirical data, and therefore newspapers were the only immediate source of knowledge in this matter. One major limitation of considering only newspaper reports to get an idea of domestic violence cases is that most of these newspapers consider and report only severe physical battering cases. They rarely cover instances of emotional abuse and sexual violence. Thus the reported cases only provide a glimpse of this pernicious scenario, whereas the real picture is no better than any another pandemic.

The reasons for choosing these newspapers were that they cover reports and news across the states and have a broad readership (Indian Readership Survey,  2019 ). Also, their online sites have a convenient search mechanism. For the current work, the following procedure of systematic review was followed.

2.1. Choice of search engine

We used Google as the search engine for the present work. Google Search provides quite a few advanced search options (region, language, exact term, etc.) to get accurate results. Also, Google's indexing seems to be better than that of the other search engines available.

2.2. Search term and strategy

For all three newspapers, the following search term format was used: ‘domestic violence site:<site name>’. For example, in case of The Hindu , search term used was ‘domestic violence’ in the website www.thehindu.com . We also made use of the ‘verbatim’ tool options to get search results that contained the exact term ‘domestic violence’ in the article.

2.3. Automation

Usually, Google Search returns 10 links per page and on average 25+ pages per search query, so it is not possible to collect the data manually. Therefore, we used a combination of Python ( https://www.python.org/ ; programming language) script and a browser automation tool called Selenium ( https://github.com/SeleniumHQ/selenium/ ) to go through all the search results automatically and calculate the number of articles published in following format:

MonthYear: Number (e.g., April 2020: 33).

2.4. State‐wise data

The url of each article returned from Google search was used to find state‐wise data.

3. FINDINGS AND INTERPRETATION

The derived data script provided a month‐wise number of published articles on domestic violence in the last 10+ years.

The total number of articles published on domestic violence in these three newspapers in the months of April, May, and June of 2020 were higher than all the domestic violence articles ever published in these newspapers in these 3 months. Publication of so many articles itself shows the severity of the crisis.

The graphical representation of the data of these months from 2015 to 2020 is shown in Figures  1 , ​ ,2, 2 , ​ ,3 3 and Table  1 . Also, it is visible that many domestic violence articles were published in April and May of 2020 (Figure  4 ), whereas a declining pattern of published articles is observed from June; this might be because India announced the unlocking process, meaning a less restricted lockdown, from June 1.

Number of news articles on domestic violence published in the months of April–June, 2015–2020, in The Times of India

Number of news items on domestic violence in the months of April–June, 2015–2020, in The Hindu

Number of news items on domestic violence in the months of April–June, 2015–2020, in Dainik Jagran

Reports of domestic violence across the 5 months of pandemic (March–July 2020) published in three newspapers, The Hindu , The Times of India , and Dainik Jagran

Reports of domestic violence during the 5 months of the pandemic (March–July, 2020) published in three newspapers The Hindu , The Times of India , and Dainik Jagran

A graphical representation of the number of articles published in the months of March–July, 2020, is shown in Figure  4 . Overall, there has been a 47.2% increase in domestic violence complaints in India (Pandit,  2020 , June 2).

A state‐wise analysis was also conducted. In The Hindu , the reports are encoded in a merge of city‐wise and state‐wise manner. In Dainik Jagran , it was comparatively easy to detect the states' pattern since the reports are arranged state‐wise. It was not possible to arrive at any conclusion regarding the state‐wise pattern following newspaper data since the state‐wise data was contradictory across newspapers. In The Hindu , we got a fair number of reports from southern states, especially Tamil Nadu. In Dainik Jagran , no cases were found from the north‐eastern and southern Indian states. Most of the reports in Dainik Jagran are based on the cases from the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Haryana, and Uttarakhand; this is somewhat in consonance with the National Legal Services Authority report, which indicates most domestic violence cases during lockdown were from the states of Uttarakhand and Haryana (Das, Das, & Mandal,  2020 ) and the National Commission for Women's concern over rise in domestic violence cases during the lockdown (Mittal & Singh,  2020 ).

From these findings, one can understand that there has been an alarming increase in domestic violence cases in India. This might be attributed to many factors.

Deprivation, for instance, is a determinant of both the frequency and the severity of domestic violence (Evans,  2005 ). World Report on Violence & Health 2002 (WHO,  2002 ), for instance, mentions poverty as the greatest risk factor for intimate partner violence. The lockdown in India has inevitable, ‘unintended’ (Ravindran & Shah,  2020 ), and negative consequences in its economy despite government reliefs (Ray & Subramanian,  2020 ). Loss of employment (Sharma & Sharma,  2020 ) and the resulting distress have resulted in aggravated domestic violence instances in India (Jha,  2020 ).

Looking at the trends of the reports, it can be noticed that after the opening of alcohol shops (Agnihotri,  2020 ; Chakravarty,  2020 ), there was an additional surge in familial violence. Based on a newspaper report on Uttar Pradesh (Agnihotri,  2020 ), the cases of domestic violence complaints on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd May were 29, 34, and 34, and the number of complaints on the 4th, 5th, and 6th May was 92, 123, and 143. This further confirms the close connection between alcohol abuse and domestic violence (Galvani,  2006 ).

The situation in India was further worsened because domestic violence victims were not able to come out of their houses and get away from the abusive situation due to strict lockdown in the initial months of the pandemic, a situation popularly referred to as ‘locked down with the abuser’ (Mohan,  2020 , March 31). The list of abusers includes husbands and other relatives, including other women such as mothers‐in‐law. Notably, Ellsberg, and colleages ( 2001 ) found that among women, temporarily leaving the abusive partner is one of the most common strategies to deal with violence. As a consequence of the strict gender roles, in some of the geographical areas and parts of Indian society women are not often allowed to go out of their houses anywhere other than to office or school. Thus, while for essential purposes men got the opportunity to step out of their houses, women were simply confined to their domestic space. Thus, not being able to leave the place of conflict might also explain the brutality that women encountered in terms of physical violence (Kumar, 2020a ) also the suicide cases (Kumar,  2020a , 2020b ; Saggu,  2020 ). The connection between getting locked down with the abuser and surge in domestic violence cases is supported by the drop in reports of domestic violence in June and July, after the unlocking process started.

4. CONCLUSION

Although the coronavirus responsible for the COVID‐19 pandemic does not differentiate between genders in its clinical impacts, the socio‐psychological consequences of the pandemic might also be mediated by one's gender. The COVID‐19 pandemic has resulted in a great crisis for the life and living of the entire world populace. Its impact on women, however, has been unprecedented and worse. Home containment, which was seen as the most effective method to protect the health and well‐being of the general public, has led to increased suffering for women. While women were free from out‐of‐home violence acts due to the nationwide lockdown, they were increasingly exposed to the violence within their homes without much socio‐legal support to help them. The steep rise in the domestic violence cases reported in the national news dailies in India is a clear indication of the trend that the domestic space is still unsafe for a majority of women. It must also be noted that while the risk of this pandemic will be over and the lockdown would be lifted, the scars of the violence would be permanent for the affected women. Although the present study presents evidence for an increase in domestic violence in India, a multi‐fold increase in domestic violence cases is reported all over the globe (Evans, Hawk, & Ripkey; Mittal & Singh,  2020 ; Tadesse, Tarekegn, Wagaw, Muluneh, & Kassa,  2020 ; Usher, Bhullar, Durkin, Gyamfi, & Jackson,  2020 ). This is strong evidence of gender‐related disparities in every society. The outcomes of this study warrants not only for strict and effective legal provisions to help these women but also call for the attention of scholars and mental health professionals to study and design effective interventions so as to educate and prepare a gender‐egalitarian society that can shatter the existing power hierarchy based on gender. Not only the government and law enforcement agencies but also the non‐governmental organisations and the general public must come together to create conditions in which reaching out for help is made easy.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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What Happened When India Pulled the Plug on TikTok

The United States is agonizing over the possibility of a ban, but India did it at a stroke. Indians adjusted quickly, and Instagram and YouTube built big audiences.

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By Alex Travelli and Suhasini Raj

Reporting from New Delhi

In India, a country of 1.4 billion, it took TikTok just a few years to build an audience of 200 million users. India was its biggest market. Then, on June 29, 2020, the Indian government banned TikTok, along with 58 other Chinese apps, after a simmering conflict between India and China flared into violence at their border.

A popular form of entertainment, which had not been the subject of political debate, vanished overnight. Now, as politicians are wrangling in Washington over a plan that could shut access for the 170 million Americans using TikTok, the example set by India gives a foretaste of what may come — and how audiences and other social media companies catering to them might respond.

TikTok, owned by ByteDance in Beijing, came to India early, establishing a wide base in 2017 in dozens of the country’s languages. Its content — short videos — tended to be homey and hyperlocal. An endless scroll of homemade productions, many of them shot in small towns or farms and set to popular music, helped while away the hours across the world’s cheapest and fastest-growing mobile-data network. As it has in the United States, TikTok became a platform for entrepreneurial extroverts to build businesses.

Veer Sharma was 26 when the music stopped. He had collected seven million followers on TikTok, where he posted videos of himself and friends lip-syncing and joking around to Hindi film songs. He was the son of a laid-off millworker from the central Indian city of Indore and barely finished formal schooling. His TikTok achievements filled him with pride. He felt “beyond happy” when people recognized him on the street.

They were happy to see him, too. Once, Mr. Sharma said, an “elderly couple met me and said they would watch my show before going to bed, for a laugh.” They told him that his “show was a way out of their daily life’s drudgery.”

With his new stardom, Mr. Sharma was earning 100,000 rupees, about $1,200, a month. He bought a Mercedes. After the ban in 2020, he barely had time to make one last video for his fans. “Our times together will be ending soon, and I don’t know how or when we will be able to meet again,” he told them.

“Then, I cried and cried,” he said.

Yet short videos, including many preserved from TikTok and uploaded to other sites that aren’t banned, continue to draw Indians.

India’s online life soon adapted to TikTok’s absence. Meta’s Instagram swooped in with its Reels and Alphabet’s YouTube with Shorts, both TikTok-like products, and converted many of the influencers and eyeballs that had been left idle.

The services were popular. But something was lost along the way, experts said. Much of the homespun charm of Indian TikTok never found a new home. It became harder for small-time creators to be discovered.

Nikhil Pahwa, a digital policy analyst in New Delhi, tracks the overall change to the departure from TikTok’s “algorithms, its special sauce,” which was “a lot more localized to Indian content” than the formulas used by the American giants that succeeded it.

Several Indian companies tried to get into the gap caused by the disappearance of Chinese competition. But America’s tech giants, with their deeper pockets and expanding global audiences, came to dominate India. The country is now the biggest market for both YouTube (almost 500 million monthly users) and Instagram (362 million), with roughly twice as many users as either has in the United States, though they earn far less revenue per consumer.

The decision by India to cut its population off from TikTok was as sudden as the American efforts, which began in 2020, are protracted. But the motivation was similar — and even more dramatic. Whereas the United States and China are engaged in a new kind of cold war over economic dominance, India and China have had troops standing off at their border since 1962. In 2020, that frozen conflict turned hot. In one night of brutal hand-to-hand combat , 20 Indian soldiers were killed, along with at least four Chinese, which China never officially confirmed.

Two weeks later, India switched off TikTok. The app disappeared from Google and Apple stores, and its website was blocked. By then, India was well practiced in blocking objectionable websites and even shutting down mobile data across whole regions, in the name of maintaining public order.

There were few other signs of retaliation by India, but this one action commanded the public’s attention. The list of Chinese apps that India has banned continues to grow, now to 509, according to Mr. Pahwa.

Until then, India’s internet had presented an open market to China. In contrast to India’s domestic media companies, tech start-ups were free to take investment from China and other countries. TikTok was only the most popular among dozens of Chinese-owned games and services distributed to Indians online.

Since at least 2017, after a similar border skirmish , the possibility that Chinese consumer technology might pose a risk to India’s sovereignty had been circulating in national security circles.

Indian officials had expressed concern that Chinese-owned apps could provide Beijing with a potent messaging tool within India’s raucous media environment. Just two months before the ban, India announced new restrictions on investments from any country “ sharing land border with India .” Technically, that would apply to Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Pakistan. But China was understood to be the real target.

On June 29, 2020, the official order that blocked TikTok and dozens of lesser-known Chinese services did not mention China explicitly, nor the bloody fight on the border. Instead, the measure was described as a matter of “data security and safeguarding the privacy” of Indian citizens from “elements hostile to national security and defense of India.”

In subsequent years, India’s government has used the rationale about maintaining the “safety and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace” to dictate terms even to American tech companies. It has complained to Apple and Twitter, as well as to Meta and Google, sometimes to prevent speech that is critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party.

But the government bore no grudge against TikTok’s influencers. After the ban went into effect, the B.J.P. reached out to Mr. Sharma , who said he had become depressed. Between losing his income and his fame, he felt his “world crashing down.” He had already been contacted by Moj, a Bangalore-based TikTok rival. Mr. Sharma’s career and income bounced back after he posted a clip with his state’s chief minister and started making promotional videos with other B.J.P. office holders. He feels proud now to be helping further Mr. Modi’s political agenda.

Another TikTokker who was temporarily “heartbroken” by the ban was Ulhas Kamathe, a 44-year-old dad from Mumbai. He somehow achieved a moment of international fame by devouring chicken platters while murmuring “chicken leg piece” with his mouth full, an instant meme. After losing his nearly seven million TikTok followers overnight, he says he has recovered — by finding five million on YouTube, four million on Instagram and three million on Facebook.

“In the past three years, I have rebuilt without any help — all by myself,” he said.

Alex Travelli is a correspondent for The Times based in New Delhi, covering business and economic matters in India and the rest of South Asia. He previously worked as an editor and correspondent for The Economist. More about Alex Travelli

Suhasini Raj is a reporter based in New Delhi who has covered India for The Times since 2014. More about Suhasini Raj