Sexually Transmitted Infections and Spousal Violence: The Experience of Married Women in India

Abstract

A growing body of research has documented that spousal violence has several adverse effects on the reproductive health of women. Using the dataset of the third National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) conducted in India in 2005–2006, the present study tries to find out the relationship between spousal violence and the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among women. How prevailing gender norms act as underlying factors of women’s risk of STI has been discussed in this paper. Overall, 9.6 per cent women in India reported an STI/STI symptom in the year preceding the survey. After covariate adjustment it was found that, compared to the women who did not experience violence in 12 months before the survey, the chances of having an STI/STI symptom was twice higher for those who experienced only physical violence and three times higher for those who experienced both physical and sexual violence during that period. The findings of this study suggest that prevention of marital violence should be incorporated in the programmes that aim to reduce STIs among women.