Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Women’s Autonomy and Spousal Violence in India: An Analysis of NFHS–3 Data

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Understanding Social Dynamics in South Asia

Abstract

In this chapter, we examine the relationship between women’s autonomy and the experience of physical violence from spouses in India. Our analysis is based on data from the National Family Health Survey–3, which was conducted between 2005 and 2006. The data was analysed through simple and multi-level mixed logistical regression models. The results showed that women’s autonomy had an independent effect on the experience of physical violence from a spouse, even if contextual and other confounding factors were controlled. In particular, compared to their counterparts who had a lower level of autonomy, women having a high level of autonomy were significantly less likely to experience physical violence from their spouses. Moreover, the results show that the effect of women’s autonomy on the experience of violence from spouse could be explained based on a woman’s exposure to media and her self-esteem.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    For better readability, in what follows, the women respondents are referred to as woman in singular or women in plural.

  2. 2.

    Available at https://www.sas.com/en_in/software/university-edition/download-software.html (accessed 14 Jul 2017).

  3. 3.

    See https://support.sas.com/documentation/cdl/en/statugglmmix/61788/PDF/default/statugglmmix.pdf (accessed 14 Jul 2017).

References

  • Abramsky, Tanya, Charlotte H. Watts, Claudia Garcia-Moreno, Karen Devries, Ligia Kiss, Mary Ellsberg, Henrica A.F.M. Jansen, and Lori Heise. 2011. What factors are associated with recent intimate partner violence? Findings from the WHO multi-country study on women’s health and domestic violence. BMC Public Health 11 (1): 109. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3049145/. Accessed 14 Jul 2017.

  • Ackerson, Leland K., and S.V. Subramanian. 2008. Domestic violence and chronic malnutrition among women and children in India. American Journal of Epidemiology 167 (10): 1188–1196.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Agarwala, Rina, and Scott M. Lynch. 2006. Refining the measurement of women’s autonomy: An international application of a multi-dimensional construct. Social Forces 84 (4): 2077–2098.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ali, Tazeen S., Nargis Asad, Ingrid Mogren, and Gunilla Krantz. 2011. Intimate partner violence in urban Pakistan: Prevalence, frequency, and risk factors. International Journal of Women’s Health 3 (1): 105–115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, Jacquelyn C. 2002. Health consequences of intimate partner violence. The Lancet 359 (9314): 1331–1336.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Capaldi, Deborah M., Naomi B. Knoble, Joann Wu Shortt, and Hyoun K. Kim. 2012. A systematic review of risk factors for intimate partner violence. Partner Abuse 3 (2): 231–280.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carter, Gregg Lee. 1991. Teaching the idea of contextual effects. Teaching Sociology 19 (4): 526–531.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Devries, Karen M., Joelle Y. Mak, Loraine J. Bacchus, Jennifer C. Child, Gail Falder, Max Petzold, Jill Astbury, and Charlotte H. Watts. 2013. Intimate partner violence and incident depressive symptoms and suicide attempts: A systematic review of longitudinal studies. PLoS Medicine 10 (5). http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1001439. Accessed 14 Jul 2017.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dillon, Gina, Rafat Hussain, Deborah Loxton, and Saifur Rahman. 2013. Mental and physical health and intimate partner violence against women: A review of the literature. International Journal of Family Medicine. http://dx.doi/10.1155/2013/313907. Accessed 14 Jul 2017.

  • Heise, Lori L. 1992. Violence against women: The hidden health burden. World Health Statistics Quarterly 46 (1): 78–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heise, Lori L., M. Ellsberg, and M. Gottemoeller. 1999. Ending violence against women. Population reports, Series L, No. 11. Baltimore: John Hopkins University School of Public Health, Population Information Program, Dec 1999. http://vawnet.org/material/population-reports-ending-violence-against-women. Accessed 14 Jul 2017.

  • Heise, Lori L., Alanagh Raikes, Charlotte H. Watts, and Anthony B. Zwi. 1994. Violence against women: A neglected public health issue in less developed countries. Social Science and Medicine 39 (9): 1165–1179.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • International Institute for Population Sciences [IIPS], and Macro International [IIPSMI]. 2007. National family health survey (NFHS-3), 2006-06: India, vol. 1. Mumbai: IIPS.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jatrana, Santosh, and Samba Siva Rao Pasupuleti. 2015. Women’s autonomy, education and birth intervals in India: Visiting the less familiar. Asian Population Studies 11 (2): 172–190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jayasuriya-Illesinghe, Vathsala, Kumudu Wijewardena, and Pia Axemo. 2011. Intimate partner violence against women in the capital province of Sri Lanka: Prevalence, risk factors, and help seeking. Violence Against Women 17 (8): 1086–1102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jejeebhoy, Shireen J., and Rebecca J. Cook. 1997. State accountability for wife-beating: The Indian challenge. The Lancet 349: S10–S12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jewkes, Rachel. 2002. Intimate partner violence: Causes and prevention. The Lancet 359 (9315): 1423–1429.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaya, Yunus, and Kimberly J. Cook. 2010. A cross-national analysis of physical intimate partner violence against women. International Journal of Comparative Sociology 51 (6): 423–444.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koenig, M.A., S. Ahmed, M.B. Hossain, and A.B. Khorshed Alam Mozumder. 2003. Women’s status and domestic violence in rural Bangladesh: Individual- and community-level effects. Demography 40 (2): 269–288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lamichhane, Prabhat, Mahesh Puri, Jyotsna Tamang, and Bishnu Dulal. 2011. Women’s status and violence against young married women in rural Nepal. BMC Women’s Health 11: 19. https://bmcwomenshealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1472-6874-11-19. Accessed 14 July 2017.

  • Levinson, David. 1989. Family violence in cross-cultural perspective. London: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Max, W., D.P. Rice, E. Finkelstein, R.A. Bardwell, and S. Leadbetter. 2004. The economic toll of intimate partner violence against women in the United States. Violence and Victims 19 (3): 259–272.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rennison, Callie Marie. 2003. Intimate partner violence, 1993–2001 (Bureau of Justice Statistics, Crime Data Brief), Feb 2003, NCJ 197838. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice. https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/ipv01.pdf. Accessed 14 Jul 2017.

  • Schuler, Sidney Ruth, Syed M. Hashemi, Ann P. Riley, and Shireen Akhter. 1996. Credit programs, patriarchy and men’s violence against women in rural Bangladesh. Social Science and Medicine 43 (12): 1729–1742.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Speizer, Ilene S., and Erin Pearson. 2011. Association between early marriage and intimate partner violence in India: A focus on youth from Bihar and Rajasthan. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 26 (10): 1963–1981.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vyas, Seema, and Charlotte Watts. 2009. How does economic empowerment affect women’s risk of intimate partner violence in low and middle income countries? A systematic review of published evidence. Journal of International Development 21 (5): 577–602.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watts, C., and C. Zimmerman. 2002. Violence against women: Global scope and magnitude. The Lancet 359 (9313): 1232–1237.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organisation. 2013. Global and regional estimates of violence against women: Prevalence and health effects of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence. Geneva: World Health Organisation. http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/85239/1/9789241564625_eng.pdf. Accessed 14 Jul 2017.

  • Yount, Kathryn M., Ann M. DiGirolamo, and Usha Ramakrishnan. 2011. Impacts of domestic violence on child growth and nutrition: A conceptual review of the pathways of influence. Social Science and Medicine 72 (9): 1534–1554.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sociological Research Centre, Indian Statistical Institute, 203, Barrackpore Trunk Road, Kolkata, 700108, West Bengal, India

    Bhola Nath Ghosh

  2. Department of Research, Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences, New Delhi, 110070, India

    Samba Siva Rao Pasupuleti

Authors
  1. Bhola Nath Ghosh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Samba Siva Rao Pasupuleti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bhola Nath Ghosh .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Social Sciences , New Delhi, Delhi, India

    Partha Nath Mukherji

  2. National Law School of India University , Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

    N. Jayaram

  3. Sociological Research Centre, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

    Bhola Nath Ghosh

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Ghosh, B.N., Pasupuleti, S.S.R. (2019). Women’s Autonomy and Spousal Violence in India: An Analysis of NFHS–3 Data. In: Mukherji, P., Jayaram, N., Ghosh, B. (eds) Understanding Social Dynamics in South Asia. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0387-6_10

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0387-6_10

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-13-0386-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-13-0387-6

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation