Prevalence of spousal violence among married women in a rural area in North Kerala
Background: Domestic violence has substantial public health consequences. More than one-third of women globally suffer from physical and sexual violence, mostly by an intimate partner with a lifetime prevalence of 10%–69%. In India, 28.8% of the ever-married women in the reproductive age group, repo...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
2021-01-01
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| Series: | Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.jfmpc.com/article.asp?issn=2249-4863;year=2021;volume=10;issue=8;spage=2845;epage=2852;aulast= |
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| author | Jesha Mohammedali Mundodan K K Lamiya Sheela P Haveri |
| author_facet | Jesha Mohammedali Mundodan K K Lamiya Sheela P Haveri |
| author_sort | Jesha Mohammedali Mundodan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Domestic violence has substantial public health consequences. More than one-third of women globally suffer from physical and sexual violence, mostly by an intimate partner with a lifetime prevalence of 10%–69%. In India, 28.8% of the ever-married women in the reproductive age group, reported domestic violence. Although Kerala, in southern India, performs better than other Indian states on a host of human development indicators for women, 15.8% among the women in this group have ever experienced physical or sexual violence in the past 12 months, the most common perpetrator being the husband. Methodology: A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out among the ever-married women, residing in a selected area of northern Kerala, who have been married for at least 1 year. One to one structured interview was conducted with a pretested structured questionnaire by the investigator. Spousal violence was defined as proportion of ever-married women with a lifetime experience of violence perpetrated by their spouse, manifested through acts of physical, sexual, and/or emotional violence, even threat. Results: A total of 290 women were interviewed. The age of the participants ranged from 18 years to 64 years; majority were Muslims. Only 16.5% were college-educated and over 90% were homemakers. 29% reported having experienced spousal violence; with the most common being emotional violence (19%) closely followed by sexual violence (18.6%) and physical violence (14.8%). A little over one-third (39.7%) reported controlling behaviour of their husband. Age of the participant (P = 0.019), absence of social support (P = 0.034), employment status of husband (P = 0.026), controlling behaviour of husband (P < 0.001), alcohol abuse by husband (P = 0.004) and extra-marital relationship of spouse (P < 0.001) were found to have significant influence on spousal violence experience. Conclusion: More than a quarter of the married women in this rural setting have experienced one or the other form of violence. Recommendation: A multifaceted approach needs to be employed which takes into consideration legal measures, social sciences, women empowerment, mental health systems and educate the men to curb this menace. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-16T09:30:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a88117fcab0645ec8cc196af02b06040 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2249-4863 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-16T09:30:19Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care |
| spelling | doaj.art-a88117fcab0645ec8cc196af02b060402022-12-21T22:36:33ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsJournal of Family Medicine and Primary Care2249-48632021-01-011082845285210.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_2313_20Prevalence of spousal violence among married women in a rural area in North KeralaJesha Mohammedali MundodanK K LamiyaSheela P HaveriBackground: Domestic violence has substantial public health consequences. More than one-third of women globally suffer from physical and sexual violence, mostly by an intimate partner with a lifetime prevalence of 10%–69%. In India, 28.8% of the ever-married women in the reproductive age group, reported domestic violence. Although Kerala, in southern India, performs better than other Indian states on a host of human development indicators for women, 15.8% among the women in this group have ever experienced physical or sexual violence in the past 12 months, the most common perpetrator being the husband. Methodology: A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out among the ever-married women, residing in a selected area of northern Kerala, who have been married for at least 1 year. One to one structured interview was conducted with a pretested structured questionnaire by the investigator. Spousal violence was defined as proportion of ever-married women with a lifetime experience of violence perpetrated by their spouse, manifested through acts of physical, sexual, and/or emotional violence, even threat. Results: A total of 290 women were interviewed. The age of the participants ranged from 18 years to 64 years; majority were Muslims. Only 16.5% were college-educated and over 90% were homemakers. 29% reported having experienced spousal violence; with the most common being emotional violence (19%) closely followed by sexual violence (18.6%) and physical violence (14.8%). A little over one-third (39.7%) reported controlling behaviour of their husband. Age of the participant (P = 0.019), absence of social support (P = 0.034), employment status of husband (P = 0.026), controlling behaviour of husband (P < 0.001), alcohol abuse by husband (P = 0.004) and extra-marital relationship of spouse (P < 0.001) were found to have significant influence on spousal violence experience. Conclusion: More than a quarter of the married women in this rural setting have experienced one or the other form of violence. Recommendation: A multifaceted approach needs to be employed which takes into consideration legal measures, social sciences, women empowerment, mental health systems and educate the men to curb this menace.http://www.jfmpc.com/article.asp?issn=2249-4863;year=2021;volume=10;issue=8;spage=2845;epage=2852;aulast=domestic violenceemotional violenceever-married womenphysical violencesexual violencespousal violence |
| spellingShingle | Jesha Mohammedali Mundodan K K Lamiya Sheela P Haveri Prevalence of spousal violence among married women in a rural area in North Kerala Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care domestic violence emotional violence ever-married women physical violence sexual violence spousal violence |
| title | Prevalence of spousal violence among married women in a rural area in North Kerala |
| title_full | Prevalence of spousal violence among married women in a rural area in North Kerala |
| title_fullStr | Prevalence of spousal violence among married women in a rural area in North Kerala |
| title_full_unstemmed | Prevalence of spousal violence among married women in a rural area in North Kerala |
| title_short | Prevalence of spousal violence among married women in a rural area in North Kerala |
| title_sort | prevalence of spousal violence among married women in a rural area in north kerala |
| topic | domestic violence emotional violence ever-married women physical violence sexual violence spousal violence |
| url | http://www.jfmpc.com/article.asp?issn=2249-4863;year=2021;volume=10;issue=8;spage=2845;epage=2852;aulast= |
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