A community-based survey on evaluation of prevalence of domestic violence against women in the rural area of Pondicherry

Background: Domestic violence refers to type of family violence, which includes elder abuse, child abuse, wife abuse, and other forms of violence between family members. Not only is a women's physical and mental well-being perturbed by domestic violence but it also takes a toll on their child rearing attributes, thereby victimizing children as well. Various studies have shown the prevalence of domestic violence in different developed as well as developing countries. However, there are few studies available on the domestic violence among women in the rural areas of India. Therefore, the present study was designed to estimate the prevalence of domestic violence in the rural regions of Pondicherry. Materials and Methods: This community-based study was conducted on a total of 623 women in the age group of 15–49 years, which were recruited by following the inclusion/exclusion criteria given by demographic and health surveys. The selected population was further distributed based on the different demographic characteristics such as education, type of family, occupation, marital status, and type of marriage. The Chi-square test was used to analyze the observations. Results: A statistically significant association was noted between marital status and domestic violence with incidents of domestic violence being more in the married women (P = 0.01), especially those employed (P = 0.004). Women with alcoholic husbands and receiving dowry threats were more prone to domestic violence (P < 0.00001). Conclusion: This study indicates that, although an advanced educational status of women is a protective factors against domestic violence in both married and unmarried woman, employed woman are more often targets of violence exalting the need to upscale societal sensitization in tandem with educational programs for girl child.