Individual and Contextual Determinants of Domestic Violence in North India

TLDR

Community norms around wife‑beating and differing risk factors for physical versus sexual violence frame the study’s context. The study investigates how individual and community factors influence domestic violence in Uttar Pradesh, North India. Using multilevel modeling on data from 4,520 married men, the authors examined domestic violence outcomes. Findings show that childlessness, economic pressure, and intergenerational violence transmission are linked to recent physical and sexual violence, while community crime elevates both types, higher socioeconomic status protects against physical violence, and contextual factors overall shape women’s risk.

Abstract

We examined individual- and community-level influences on domestic violence in Uttar Pradesh, North India.Multilevel modeling was used to explore domestic violence outcomes among a sample of 4520 married men.Recent physical and sexual domestic violence was associated with the individual-level variables of childlessness, economic pressure, and intergenerational transmission of violence. A community environment of violent crime was associated with elevated risks of both physical and sexual violence. Community-level norms concerning wife beating were significantly related only to physical violence.Important similarities as well as differences were evident in risk factors for physical and sexual domestic violence. Higher socioeconomic status was found to be protective against physical but not sexual violence. Our results provide additional support for the importance of contextual factors in shaping women's risks of physical and sexual violence.