A study on physical violence among women aged groups15-49 in India

This paper is an attempt to investigate role of socio-economic and cultural variables in physical violence (ever physically hurt by somebody other than husband) among 15-49 age groups women (ever married & unmarried) in India. The analysis uses NFHS-3 (National Family Health Survey-3) data of India. The result depicts a fair picture of association between physical violence and socio-economic & cultural variables. The binary logistic regression model shows that there is a statistically significant relation of physical violence with highest level of education, Household structure, Age, place of residence, Caste and socio-economic condition. Though we found physical violence persist across socio-economic and cultural categories but prevalence of physical violence was high among SC (Schedule caste) category women and those who belong to low income-group families. Thus, this paper will help policy-makers to know the role of demographic and socio-cultural factors in physical violence among 15-49 aged women in India.