Domestic Violence against Women in Rural Goa (India): Prevalence, Determinants and Help-Seeking Behaviour. -

Abstract

Introduction: Almost 1/3 rd to a half of adult women are victimized at home. Magnitude is found to vary depending on the interview techniques, time and setting. Objectives: To study the magnitude of Domestic violence Against Women; to study its determinants and help-seeking behaviour of the victims. Material & Methods: Nine hundred twenty women aged 18-49 years from the field practice area of the Rural Health & Training Centre in Goa were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Life time prevalence since the age of 18, and current prevalence in the last 3 months was estimated. Results: The lifetime and current prevalence of Domestic Violence (DV) was 32.2% (±3.1%) and 22.4% (±2.7%), respectively. The women in currently married relationship were at a higher risk compared to otherwise (24.6% v/s 5.6%, p<0.01). Early years of marriage, lower educational level of husband and wife, employed women, women with alcoholic husband were at significantly higher risk of DV. Muslim religion and joint family though had a higher risk, it was not statistically significant. Husband was the commonest perpetrator and 68.5% of the women did not even speak about the incidence to a third person. Concern for parents and children, and social security were the commonly cited reasons for being quiet. Conclusion: There is much more to understanding social pathology of DV than just women empowerment and other demographic factors. Similar studies in males would demystify the dark areas.