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Citation

Martin, Sandra L.; Tsui, Amy Ong; Maitra, Kuhu; & Marinshaw, Ruth (1999). Domestic Violence in Northern India. American Journal of Epidemiology, 150(4), 417-426.

Abstract

This study examined the prevalence and characteristics of wife abuse as reported by nearly 6,700 married men living in five districts of northern India during 1995-1996. In addition, associations between wife abuse and sociodemographic factors were investigated to enable two theoretical/conceptual perspectives regarding abuse to be evaluated: that abuse is more common among families under stress and among more "private" families. The district-specific percentages of men who reported physically abusing their wives ranged from 18% to 45%, with 18-40% of the men in each district having had nonconsensual sex with their wives and 4-9% having physically forced their wives to have sex. The authors used logistic regression analyses to control for a variety of sociodemographic variables and found positive associations between wife abuse and stress-related factors, including the husband having a low educational level, the couple living in poverty, the husband being young when he first lived with his wife, and the couple having multiple children. Contrariwise, there was no strong empirical support for the idea that wife abuse may be more common in more "private" families.

URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a010021

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year Published

1999

Journal Title

American Journal of Epidemiology

Author(s)

Martin, Sandra L.
Tsui, Amy Ong
Maitra, Kuhu
Marinshaw, Ruth