Economic and Social Determinants of Violence Against Women: A Study Based on Demographic Health Survey in India

Shekhar Chauhan
Sumit Kumar, Jawaharlal Nehru University
Ratna Patel

Explaining the reasons behind violence against women is an incredibly complex attempt because it receives social sanctity as well as justification from women themselves. We examined the economic and social determinants of violence against women. Two rival economic hypothesis of domestic violence against women: the Household Bargaining Model (HBM) and Male Backlash Model (MBM) are employed to understand the predictors of violence against women. The HBM postulates that when women have more resource and income generating activities they can bargain for better outcomes in the household, and they experience less violence. In contrast, the MBM argues that men use violence when they feel disempowered or earn less than their wives. Using data from National Family Health Survey-IV (NFHS-IV), the results show that economic covariates better explain the violence against women, and women are at further risk of experiencing violence when they are earning relatively higher than their husbands.

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 Presented in Session 9. Marriage, Family, Households, & Unions; Gender, Race, & Ethnicity