Economic violence among women of economically backward Muslim minority community: the case of rural North India

Abstract

Economic violence represents a state of control over an individual capacity to obtain, utilize and keep up economic assets. The current study investigates the prevalence of economic violence among women of the socioeconomically backward Muslim minority community by taking a sample of 387 women from rural areas of North India within a framework of domestic violence. It is shown that economic violence against Muslim women perpetrated by their husbands exists in India. Economic violence adversely affects Muslim women’s access to health services, educational attainment, social mobility, and employment opportunities. Our findings indicate that among the components of economic violence experienced by women, the tendency of employment sabotage is higher compared to economic control and economic exploitation. Clearly, there is a need for a special focus on improving minority community women’s access to developmental opportunities.