Dynamics of domestic violence in Kashmir: An interplay of multiple factors

Abstract

Domestic violence is a widely prevalent phenomenon in the world. However, some of its features are culture-specific. This study, therefore, attempts to study domestic violence in the context of Kashmir's culture. It draws on data collected through interviews with victims of domestic violence who were identified during a survey in Kashmir. The interview transcripts were analyzed and themes were drawn using the axial coding method (Corbin and Strauss). Classification of the themes into categories was based on similarities that they share and on the frequency with which they co-occur. These categories gave a sense of dynamics of domestic violence operating in Kashmir. Data reveals that the causes of domestic violence in Kashmir operate at various levels, like individual, social, and cultural. Moreover, qualitative analysis of the interview transcripts visualize domestic violence in Kashmir as the interplay of the following categories, personal factors, communication factors, power factors, interpersonal factors, cultural factors, and situational factors. It is the geo-political and social context of Kashmir that results in the unique dynamic of these causal factors which will help in designing and tailoring culture-specific interventions to address the issue of domestic violence in Kashmir.