Prevalence and correlates of domestic violence against ever married women of reproductive age in India: changes during 2005-2015

BACKGROUND: The present study was conducted to estimate the prevalence rate of domestic violence against women and examine the socio-demographic status of the victims of domestic violence in India. The study also examined the differences in the prevalence of emotional, physical, and sexual violence against ever-married women over ten years (2005 - 2015) in all member states in India. METHODS: The study used secondary data from NFHS-3 (2005-06) and NFHS-4 (2015-16). Cross-tabulation and multivariate analyses were performed. IBM SPSS V25 was used for data analysis. RESULTS: The prevalence of domestic violence against married women in India in 2015 was as follows: emotional violence, 13%; physical violence, 28%; and sexual violence, 7%. Rajasthan achieved the highest decline in the prevalence of domestic violence against women over the last ten years since 2005. In addition, younger age, urban residence, lower level of education and lower socioeconomic status were essential predictors of domestic violence. CONCLUSIONS: There should be an improvement in female education, awareness generation regarding their rights, and better social support to reduce the prevalence of violence against women. In addition, engaging men in the fight against domestic violence could bring positive results.