Times Of India Mumbai; Date:2007 Oct 12; Section:Front Page; Page Number 1 54% women back wife-beating
While Only 51% Of Men Say It's Okay Kounteya Sinha | TNN New Delhi: If you thought domestic violence was on the wane in India with the rise in education levels, take a look at these hard figures. Over 40% of women in a nationwide survey reported being beaten by their husbands at some point of time. More shockingly, around 54% of the women surveyed thought that such violence was justified on some grounds. According to India's most comprehensive National Family Health Survey-III, which interviewed 1.25 lakh women in 29 states during 2005-06, 41% women justified wife-beating if it was because they showed disrespect towards their inlaws while 35% women were okay with being brutally assaulted by their husbands if they neglected household chores or their children. Not surprisingly then, 51% of the 75,000 men interviewed didn't find anything wrong with assaulting their wives. * Domestic Violence Crying Out **The National Family Health Survey-III interviewed 1.25 lakh women and 75,000 men ** Over 40% of married women face abuse at home **Slapping is commonest act of violence by husbands ** Only 2% of abused women have ever sought police help **Buddhist women (41%) report highest level of violence, followed by Muslim and Hindu women. Jain women face least violence (13%) * * Times View *The survey is an eye-opener. It shows that mere laws are not enough to curb domestic violence. If the victims themselves regard it as justified, even strict laws can't achieve much. What's needed is a concerted national effort to drive home the message—both among men and women—that wife beating is unacceptable. Not only government, but also civil society institutions, and not just women's groups, must play an important role in this. Deep-rooted social ills can't be wished away with legal wands. * Bihar's record worst: Study * New Delhi: Dr Sulabha Parasuraman from the International Institute of Population Studies, who spearheaded the National Family Health Survey-III that showed 54% women found nothing wrong in wife-beating, has termed this attitude as "shocking''. "Men are brought up with the idea that beating their wives isn't wrong while women are told that being assaulted by their spouses is acceptable. This attitude has to change immediately,'' she said. Experts say this explains why only one in four abused women seek help. Only 2% of the abused women sought intervention from the police. G C Chaturvedi, director, National Rural Health Mission, said, "In India, the worst problem we face is that victims in almost all states don't feel victimised, both in case of dowry or spousal violence. We are trying to change this mindset by educating and empowering more women, making them aware of their rights. It will take some time to change people.'' NFHS-III has made some other shocking observations. While 1 in 10 have experienced sexual violence, 1 in 6 experienced emotional violence by husbands. Bihar was found to be the worst with abuse rate as high as 59%. About 63% of these incidents of violence were in urban families. Bihar was followed by Rajasthan (46.3%), MP (45.8%), Manipur (43.9%), UP (42.4%), Tamil Nadu ( 41.9%) and West Bengal (40.3%). Most of the assaulted women were less than two years into their marriage. Figures say 62% experienced physical or sexual violence within the first two years of marriage. Slapping was the most common act of violence. Low levels of education plays a major role in this trend. Over 47% women who suffered violence had no education. The number stood at 16% for those who studied till at least standard X. Women between 25-29 years (24%) faced the worst violence. SC/ST women were the worst affected with one in three experiencing violence. Buddhists reported the highest level (41%) followed by Muslim and Hindu women (34-35%) and Sikh and Christians (26-28%). Women from the Jain community reported the lowest level of violence (13%). The only good news: some states reported low incidence of violence against married women. The figure stood at 6% in Himachal Pradesh, 12.6% in Jammu and Kashmir, 16.3% in Delhi, 16.4% in Kerala, 16.5% in Sikkim and 16.8% in Goa. TNN http://epaper.timesofindia.com/daily/skins/TOI/navigator.asp?login=default --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
