Study of domestic violence among currently married females of Haryana, India

Abstract

Background: No nation is untouched by domestic violence, and it is well-known that domestic violence has serious impact on women's health and well-being. The present study aimed to assess the prevalence and characteristics of domestic violence and injuries owing to domestic violence among currently married women. Materials and Methods: This was a community-based, cross-sectional study conducted in the rural and urban areas of Haryana. In total, 880 currently married females of the reproductive age group were interviewed using the Women's Questionnaire (used in National Family Health Survey-3) which is according to the Modified Conflict Tactics Scale. Results: Totally, 37% of the females had ever experienced domestic violence and 28.9% currently experienced domestic violence. All types of violence (except sexual violence) were significantly more common in the rural area than the urban area. Injuries owing to domestic violence were reported by more than half (55.4%) of the women. Among spousal violence, emotional violence was the most common type of violence followed by physical violence. Only 0.1% and 4.5% of females had ever initiated physical and emotional violence respectively, against their husbands, and in rest of the cases, it was the husband who initiated violence. Conclusion: Awareness regarding domestic violence needs to be made, and law enforcement regarding it needs to be made stringent. Rehabilitation of victims of domestic/spousal violence should also be considered on priority.