‘K’taka has maximum cases of spousal violence’

‘K’taka has maximum cases of spousal violence’

Ambika.Pandit@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:  15.12.2020

Karnataka tops the list of 17 states and five UTs with 44% of women surveyed in the state in the age group of 18-49 years saying they had faced spousal violence at some time, followed by Bihar (40%) and Manipur

(39.6%), shows data from Phase I of National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-20).

NFHS-5 defines spousal violence to include “physical and/ or sexual violence”. In three more states over 30% of women in 18-49 years age group responded in the affirmative to the question if they had “ever experienced spousal violence”. These states are Telangana (36.9%), Assam (32%) and Andhra Pradesh (30%). Karnataka, in fact, reported a spike when compared to NFHS- 4 (2015-16) when 20.6% women surveyed had experienced spousal violence. Assam, too, witnessed a rise when compared to 24.5% in NFHS-4.

On the other hand, though the figure is high in Manipur, the state reported a sharp decline as compared to 53.2% in the 2015-16 survey. Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Telangana also registered a decline in 2019-20 when compared to NFHS-4 figures of 43.4%, 43.7% and 42.9% respectively. Data shows 25.2% women in Maharashtra reported having experienced spousal violence, up from 21.3% in 2015-16 while West Bengal (27%) showed a decline from 33.1% women reporting spousal violence in NFHS-4.

Kerala had 9.9% of women reporting spousal violence, a decline from 14.3% in 2015-16. Jammu & Kashmir

(9.6%), Himachal Pradesh

(8.3%), Goa (8.3%) and Nagaland (6.4%) fall in the below 10% category with Lakshadweep recording the least (1.3%) number of such women.

The percentage of women who admitted to having experienced sexual violence by the age of 18 years ranged from 11% in Karnataka, 9.7% in West Bengal, 8.7% in Ladakh, 8.3% in Bihar, 8% in Assam and 6.2% in Maharashtra to 1.8% in Andaman & Nicobar Islands and 0.8% in Lakshadweep.

Times View: The spurt in domestic violence across states that the NHS survey shows is a matter of both shame and concern. Violence against women primarily stems from a patriarchal mindset and needs to be addressed through gender-sensitive education in schools and an honest application of the law. Policy framers must take cognizance of the survey and find innovative ways to address this social malaise.