Domestic violence against women: a crossectional study in rural area of Amravati district of Maharashtra, India

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Domestic violence is a global issue reaching across national boundaries as well as socio economic, cultural, racial and class distinctions. This problem is not only widely dispersed geographically, but its incidence is also extensive, making it a typical and accepted behaviour. Women from all kinds of backgrounds are affected by Violence every day. Sometimes, they are attacked by strangers, but most often they are hurt by people who are close to them. Domestic violence against women is a matter of serious public health concern in most of the communities and culture. 1 According to WHO, Domestic Violence is defined as 'Any act of gender-based violence that results in physical, sexual or mental harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in private or in public life'. 2 The proportion of women who had ever experienced physical or sexual violence or both by an intimate partner ranged from 15% to 71%, with the majority between 29% and 62% as reported by World Health Organization. 2 Government of India has made serious effort in curbing the problem of domestic violence by the formation of ABSTRACT Background: Domestic violence against women is a matter of serious public health concern in most of the communities and culture. In India, the problem has been highlighted after legislation against domestic violence in 2005, popularly known as the protection of women from domestic violence act. Main objectives of the study were to assess the prevalence of domestic violence against women, to study the sociodemographic factors in females suffering from domestic violence and to identify causes of domestic violence in them. Methods: A crossectional study was carried in the field practice area of rural health training centre of Dr. Panjabrao Deshmukh Memorial Medical College, Nerpinglai in Amravati district of Maharashtra state for a period of 3 months. Simple random sampling method was used for the selection of samples. The study participants were interviewed using a predesigned pretested questionnaire. Proportion, Chi square test were calculated for the analysis of the study. Results: Out of 400 study participants interviewed, 161 (40.25%) reported some type of violence i.e. either in the form of physical, emotional or sexual violence in their life time or in recent past. The most common type of violence reported was physical violence. The most common cause of domestic violence reported in our study was financial problems followed by influence under alcohol. Conclusions: The prevalence of domestic violence was 40.25% which is still high and necessary measures should be taken to strengthen the laws for women and to empower them.