The Formal Systems Response to Violence Against Women in India: A Cultural Lens

Prevalence of major depressive disorder and its determinants among young married women and unmarried girls: Findings from the second round of UDAYA survey

INTRODUCTION

Depression is a prevalent and debilitating mental illness affecting young women worldwide. This study aimed to identify psychosocial determinants of major depressive disorder (MDD) among young women in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, India.

METHODS

Data from "Understanding the Lives of Adolescents and Young Adults" (UDAYA) study (2018-19) for young women aged 12-23 years, both married and unmarried was used for this paper. MDD was evaluated using the Patient Health Questionnaire PHQ-9 with a cut-off score of ≤10. The determinants of MDD were identified through multilevel binary logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS

The prevalence of MDD was 13.6% (95% CL 12.2-15.2) and 5.1% (95% CL 4.2-6.1) for young married women and unmarried girls, respectively. Among the young married women, community-level variables like dowry-related humiliation (1.74, 95% CI 1.15-2.64), and sexual assaults (2.15, 95% CI 1.24-3.73) were significantly associated with MDD. For unmarried girls, reporting of family violence <10% of participants (0.45, 95% CI 0.24-0.85), family violence (≥10% of participants) % (0.35 95% CI 0.19-0.68) and interpartner violence (>25% of participants) (0.42; 95% CI 0.23-0.74) remain significant predictors of MDD. At individual level, for both the groups, age, participation in decision making (on education), social capital (currently attending school/educational course and number of friends), self-efficacy, telephonic harassment, and physical activity were associated with MDD. Wealth index, job seeking, participation in decision making (on health-seeking), parental interactions and physical abuse (for unmarried girls only) and education, reported last sexual intercourse, pressure from the in-laws' to conceive (for young married women only) were associated with MDD.

CONCLUSIONS

For young married women, community level targeted interventions should focus on the social ecology to foster a sense of safe community environment. For unmarried girls, additionally, interventions should aim to optimize their family environment for effective mental health outcomes.

Prevalence and risk factors of physical violence against husbands: evidence from India

As the proportion of women being victims of spousal violence in India is higher than men, laws are usually framed to safeguard women. However, men who have experienced physical spousal violence are not unheard of. The study aims to provide the nationwide prevalence of physical violence against husbands and the risk factors for such violence, using large-scale nationally representative 'National Family Health Survey' (NFHS 4) data. The study used descriptive, bivariate, logistic, and multilevel regression models with a random intercept clustering within states and households to explain the physical violence against husband. Sample size for the analysis was 62,716 currently married women aged 15-49 years. Findings revealed that in most of the states of India, physical spousal violence has increased over time. Behavioural characteristics like marital control, alcoholism, and childhood experience of parental violence have a consistent and strong role in explaining the experience of physical violence across states. With age, experience of violence against husbands increases. Differences in socio-economic characteristics do not have unidirectional effect on violence experienced by husbands across regions of India. Working women who are earning cash and having access to mobile phones perpetrate more physical violence in selected regions. Education shows a gradient on such violence perpetration, indicating that only after achieving a certain level of education, chances of violence reduce. Regionally contrasting social and economic risk factors in explaining violence strengthen the argument that violence is space and culture-specific, and development alone may not resolve violence unless the system is addressing the behavioural aspects. There is a need for supporting men experiencing domestic violence within the existing system facilities. Revisiting the present domestic violence laws and programmes for inclusivity is the need of the hour.

The influences of sociocultural norms on women's decision to disclose intimate partner violence: Integrative review

Sociocultural norms against women can contribute to promoting intimate partner violence (IPV) and shape women's decision to disclose IPV. A cross-cultural analysis of the existing literature is needed to present an overview of the influences of sociocultural norms on women's decisions regarding the disclosure of IPV across different cultural contexts. The purpose of the review was to synthesize published quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods (MMs) studies to identify known sociocultural norms across different cultures that may influence women's decision to disclose IPV. The Whittemore and Knafl framework, Rayyan software, and PRISMA flow diagram were used. Databases included APA PsycInfo, CINAHL, PubMed, SocINDEX, and Women's Studies International. The quality of studies was assessed by the MMs appraisal tool. A total of 15 research articles written in English and published in peer-reviewed journals were included. Main categories emerged: (1) stigma surrounding IPV disclosure, victimization, and divorce; (2) gender roles; (3) preserving family honor; and (4) Children's well-being and future. A one-size-fits-all approach is not adequate for women who are considering disclosing IPV. Findings underscore that regardless of residing in individualistic countries, those sociocultural norms related to traditional gender roles and gender inequality are still important barriers to the disclosure of IPV among women with collectivist roots.

How does domestic violence stigma manifest in women's lives in Afghanistan? A study of survivors' lived experiences of help-seeking across three provinces

Afghanistan has one of the highest rates of domestic violence in the world, with an estimated 46% women reporting lifetime violence. Survivors of domestic violence experience significant stigma from their families and communities, often in the form of blame, shame, gossip, and dismissal. While the manifestations of stigma are often the same across cultural settings, the drivers may be different. We conducted sixty semi-structured interviews with survivors of domestic violence in three provinces of Afghanistan. Data were analysed using thematic network analysis. Our analysis highlights stigma as a structural phenomenon in Afghanistan underpinned by mutually reinforcing structural elements (including community, government authorities, marital and natal families, other survivors and the self). In a country with a deeply patriarchal social structure, the main manifestation of stigma was the silencing of survivors of violence, as domestic violence was considered a private affair. Notions of honour were paramount in fuelling stigma against survivors of violence, as any action to report or leave violent relationships was considered dishonourable. Our findings have implications for the design of services to help survivors of violence seek help for the violence they experience, especially at a time when such services are increasingly constricted for women in Afghanistan.

Domestic violence in Indian women: lessons from nearly 20 years of surveillance

BACKGROUND

Prevalence of self-reported domestic violence against women in India is high. This paper investigates the national and sub-national trends in domestic violence in India to prioritise prevention activities and to highlight the limitations to data quality for surveillance in India.

METHODS

Data were extracted from annual reports of National Crimes Record Bureau (NCRB) under four domestic violence crime-headings-cruelty by husband or his relatives, dowry death, abetment to suicide, and protection of women against domestic violence act. Rate for each crime is reported per 100,000 women aged 15-49 years, for India and its states from 2001 to 2018. Data on persons arrested and legal status of the cases were extracted.

RESULTS

Rate of reported cases of cruelty by husband or relatives in India was 28.3 (95% CI 28.1-28.5) in 2018, an increase of 53% from 2001. State-level variations in this rate ranged from 0.5 (95% CI  - 0.05 to 1.5) to 113.7 (95% CI 111.6-115.8) in 2018. Rate of reported dowry deaths and abetment to suicide was 2.0 (95% CI 2.0-2.0) and 1.4 (95% CI 1.4-1.4) in 2018 for India, respectively. Overall, a few states accounted for the temporal variation in these rates, with the reporting stagnant in most states over these years. The NCRB reporting system resulted in underreporting for certain crime-headings. The mean number of people arrested for these crimes had decreased over the period. Only 6.8% of the cases completed trials, with offenders convicted only in 15.5% cases in 2018. The NCRB data are available in heavily tabulated format with limited usage for intervention planning. The non-availability of individual level data in public domain limits exploration of patterns in domestic violence that could better inform policy actions to address domestic violence.

CONCLUSIONS

Urgent actions are needed to improve the robustness of NCRB data and the range of information available on domestic violence cases to utilise these data to effectively address domestic violence against women in India.

Professional Self-Positioning of Indian Social Workers in Response to Domestic Violence

This article explores the self-positioning of Indian social workers who work with female survivors of domestic violence (DV). We know from previous research about the experiences of persons who have encountered DV, but more studies on the point of view of the professionals is needed. Relying on positioning theory and discursive analysis as a framework, we analyzed interviews (N = 18) concerning the practices, emotions, and attitudes of social workers. Positioning theory enables scholars to approach the situation of encountering a survivor as a social event, which consists of the meaning-making activities of social workers. Professionals self-position themselves as one or a combination of the following: (a) a challenger of gendered oppression, (b) an advocator of women's rights, (c) a facilitator of women's empowerment, and/or (d) a self-reflector of personal emotions and attitudes. The findings suggest that the event of DV intervention is a discursive and contextually situated moral practice in which the distribution of rights and duties to say and do things is of particular interest. The act of self-positioning is constructed in relation to sociocultural settings. Social workers may take several positions during the meetings with survivors. Positions build our understanding of how social workers in violence-specific units make sense of DV, illustrating how the act of self-positioning may also define to the position of the survivor. Social workers experienced boundaries, and possibilities in responding to DV were explored. The study reveals that barriers should be addressed at a wider level by funders and policy makers to enhance the continuity of work and the implementation of women rights legislation in India.

Releasing the Tide: How Has a Shock to the Acceptability of Gender-Based Sexual Violence Affected Rape Reporting to Police in India?

National household data suggest that more than four million women in India have experienced nonspousal rape. Fewer than 1.5% of victims of sexual violence in India report their assaults to police, though there is some indication of increased rape reporting to police following a very high-profile fatal gang rape in Delhi in December 2012. This study examines effects of the Delhi gang rape on rape reporting to police in India, and assesses the roles played by geography, media access, and women's status and protection factors in that reporting. Triangulated data from Indian crime, census, and police bureau records were used to assess trends in rape reporting to police at national and district levels from 2005 to 2016, using regressions, spatial mapping, and graphical trend analyses. Nationally, there was a 33% increase in annual rapes reported to police after 2012. Subnationally, there was substantial variation in trends; these district-level changes were particularly affected by distance from Delhi (0.2 fewer rapes reported to police/100,000 women for each 100 km from Delhi), literacy sex ratio (0.6 more rapes for every increase of 0.1 in male: female literacy ratio), and the presence of a women's police station (1.0 fewer rapes reported to police/100,000 women relative to districts with no women's police station). The 2012 Delhi gang rape significantly affected rape reporting to police in India, with greater increases seen closer to Delhi and in districts with compromised gender equity. Further work to support the rights and safety of women is needed, including bolstering an enabling environment for reporting, legal protections, and responsive criminal justice.

Exploring Community Narratives of Violence Against Women among Domestic Violence Responders in Guam

In the Pacific Island of Guam, recent high-profile incidents of violence against Indigenous Chamoru women have sparked growing local concerns regarding rates of domestic violence and sexual assault. These and other indicators of elevated rates of violence against women in Guam are discordant with historical narratives of gender egalitarianism and community-based sanctions regarding violence against women in Chamoru culture. Using qualitative interviews with responders to violence against women in Guam, this study investigated current community narratives surrounding violence against women. Findings highlighted the centrality of culture in participant understandings of violence against women, particularly the complex interplay of themes of Indigenous cultural loss and desire for revitalization alongside a preference for Western cultural ideals. Curiously, in spite of a strong cultural framework in participant understandings of violence against women, few participants framed their professional response in cultural terms, other than to describe "culturally competent" approaches for commonly scapegoated communities in Guam. Study findings highlight the need for a closer analysis of culture in understandings of and responses to violence against women in Indigenous communities.

Community Conversations on Relationship Violence: Town Variations in Prevention Perceptions through Concept Mapping

To further develop domestic and sexual violence (DSV) prevention strategies at the community level requires an understanding of how community members in towns think about prevention. Using concept mapping, this study sought to better understand community members' perspectives about what DSV prevention strategies would be most feasible, most effective, and generate the greatest community support within their town. Data were collected across four rural Northern England towns. Participants (>90% White) in each town (total sample size = 119) brainstormed, sorted, and rated between 67 and 90 statements per town (x̅ = 75). Based on the results, a 5-cluster solution of school settings, conversations, individual direct action, community building, and community awareness was identified across all four towns as DSV prevention strategies with one town identifying an additional cluster solution of governance. Despite identifying similar prevention strategies, participants from each town rated these clusters of strategies differently on how feasible, effective, and supported they would be in their community. Overall, our results suggest that there were interesting consistencies across four towns in a similar geographic region in terms of how DSV prevention was described. However, individual communities differed in their views of the feasibility and acceptability of the different strategies. These results suggest that different strategies and higher-level actions may be required to address and prevent DSV within different towns and communities and that community narratives can clarify which specific strategies may encounter fewer barriers to implementation.

Empowering Practices With Domestic Violence Survivors in India

There is a growing concern about women's safety in India. This study examined a grassroots agency's response to domestic violence in the community by examining their empowerment-focused work with survivors through crisis intervention centers. Multi-informant perspectives examined (a) the organizational process of facilitating or strengthening empowerment of survivors and (b) the mechanisms central to this process. Results highlight various salient mechanisms, namely, the adoption of a survivor-centered approach, collaborative relationships with staff, meeting women where they are, systems advocacy, fostering independence, and building long-term networks with formal and informal supports. Implications for intervention and prevention work are discussed.

Experience of gender-based violence and its effect on depressive symptoms among Indian adolescent girls: Evidence from UDAYA survey

BACKGROUND

Violence against women has been one of the most prominent issue and a major public health concern. It is a principle violation of basic human rights and has both physical and mental effect on the victim. This study focuses on married and unmarried girls aged 15 to 19 years, belonging to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, India. This study attempts to examine depression level among married and unmarried girls who have faced violence against them. With the unprecedented growth in social networking, online digital platform and its accessibility, the study also brings out the pertinent aspect of internet based violence and its psychological outcome on adolescent girls. Hence, the study can be seen as an important and needed value addition to the existing pool of knowledge on the subject.

METHODS

The study uses Understanding the lives of adolescents and young adults (UDAYA) project data for Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Depressive symptoms among adolescent girl is the outcome variable of the study. Descriptive statistic and bivariate analysis has been used to get to preliminary results. Chi-squared test is used to test the significant of variables. Further, multi-variate analysis (logistic regression) was used.

RESULTS

Almost 29, 23 and 26 percent of married adolescent girls had faced emotional, physical and sexual violence respectively. It was found that about five per cent of unmarried and eight per cent of married girls had high depressive symptoms. It was found that unmarried adolescent girls who had witnessed their father beating mother were 71 percent more likely to suffer from higher depressive symptoms [OR: 1.71, 1.09-2.69]. Adolescents who faced perpetrated bullying had 90 per cent [OR: 1.90, 1.32-2.72] and 86 per cent [OR: 1.86, 0.98-3.52] higher likelihood to suffer from higher depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSION

The study goes beyond intimate partner violence and includes various covariates to explain the association between violence and depressive symptoms among married and unmarried adolescents. Hence, more inclusive policies are needed to address the issue of violence against women as the spectrum of the violence is expanding with time.

Community Organizing and Counter Narratives in the Response to Domestic Violence in India

Domestic violence affects women globally. Domestic violence in India is embedded in structures of patriarchy, cultural norms, and a conservative social structure (Biswas, 2017). Community narratives help to create meaning and impact human behavior and can be tools of empowerment (Rappaport, 1995). They can also provide an important means of detecting changes in norms. Community engagement efforts that focus on empowering communities can play an important role in creating empowering narratives. Organizational settings like grassroots agencies can play a salient role in providing opportunities for community engagement leading to the creation of new community narratives and personal stories. This study sought to examine the work of a grassroots agency in India engaged in community action aimed at social change in the response to domestic violence, with a special focus on understanding shifting community narratives related to the response to domestic violence. Based on data from semi-structured interviews, archival data, and participant-observations, and using a modified-grounded theory approach, our results identified five major themes reflecting counter narratives on domestic violence. These included (a) awareness and discourse on gender related issues, (b) framing domestic violence as a social issue, (c) supporting the empowerment of women, (d) supporting disclosure of violence, and (e) supporting intervening in cases of violence. Implications of our findings for social change work in the response to domestic violence are discussed.

Household sanitation access and risk for non-marital sexual violence among a nationally representative sample of women in India, 2015-16

BACKGROUND

Lack of household sanitation, specifically toilet facilities, can adversely affect the safety of women and girls by requiring them to leave their households to defecate alone and at night, leaving them more vulnerable to non-marital sexual violence. This study analyzes the association between household sanitation access and past year victimization from non-marital sexual violence (NMSV) in India.

METHODS

We analyzed 74,698 women age 15-49 from whom information on NMSV was collected in India's National Family Health Survey 2015-16 (NFHS-4). We used multivariable logistic regression to test the relationship between women's household sanitation access and recent NMSV experience, controlling for socioeconomics (SES;e.g., age, marital status, caste, wealth, employment), for the total sample and stratified by rural/urban, given lower access to sanitation and lower NMSV in rural contexts.

RESULTS

We found that 46.2% of households in our sample lacked their own private sanitation facilities (58.0% rural; 24.5% urban) and were forced to openly defecate (37.3%) or walk to a shared sanitation facility (8.9%), and 0.45% of women report NMSV in the last 12 months (0.33% rural; 0.68% urban). Our multivariable model indicated no significant association between having private household sanitation facilities and NMSV for the total sample, but stratified analyses indicate a significant association for rural but not urban women. In rural India, those who lack private household sanitation, compared to those with a household toilet, have significantly greater odds of NMSV (AOR = 2.45; p < 0.05). These findings persist after accounting for demographics including age and marital status, socio-economic factors related to marginalization (e.g., caste, wealth), women's employment, and the overall climate of the state.

CONCLUSION

Findings from this study support prior research suggesting that poor access to sanitation is associated with women's risk for NMSV in rural India. This may be via increased exposure, and/or as a marker for greater vulnerability to NMSV beyond what is explained by other SES indicators. Solutions can include increased access to private household sanitation and more targeted NMSV prevention in rural India.

Community Organizing and Transformative Change in the Response to Domestic Violence in India

Pervasive cultural narratives that normalize domestic violence have made efforts to respond to domestic violence in India challenging. An effective response to domestic violence in India needs to be transformative in nature, supporting the empowerment of survivors of violence and empowering communities to support survivors. Various studies have highlighted the importance of settings like grassroots organizations for promoting empowerment of members through community organizing. This qualitative study builds on this growing body of research using a grassroots agency in India as an exemplar to understand (a) empowering processes at the individual and community level associated with the agency's community organizing efforts; and (b) salient mechanisms associated with social change and action in the response to domestic violence in the community. At the individual level, the agency's organizing efforts provided knowledge, skills and resources, and opportunities for participation and leadership. At the community level, the agency engages in capacity building and increases social capital of members. The mechanisms that emerged as salient were increased critical consciousness of members, an emphasis on breaking the silence around domestic violence, community trust and cohesion, and capacity for informal social control. Implications of our findings for intervention and prevention work are discussed. HIGHLIGHTS: Community organizing is an important avenue for change in the response to domestic violence. Community organizing can facilitate empowering processes like participation and leadership. Building capacity and social capital is central to facilitating empowerment of communities.