Do Women Empowerment and Intimate Partner Violence Go Hand in Hand? Evidence from India

Abstract

We examine the effect of women empowerment as indicated by women’s education level, employment status and autonomy on the odds of intimate partner violence (IPV) in India using NFHS-III and NFHS-IV unit-level data. We find that the indicators of women empowerment do not always affect the odds of physical and sexual violence in the same manner. Our study shows that women’s level of education and the odds of sexual violence by their intimate partner show an inverted-U-type association. Education’s mitigating effects on violence are weakening over the decade under inquiry. Earning for the household does not provide respite to women from IPV as working women have a higher likelihood of IPV, which has not declined over the decade studied. However, women’s autonomy negatively affects the odds of IPV.