INDOlink - India General News: Domestic Violence Against Women Underreported in India: Survey

Domestic Violence Against Women Underreported in India: Survey

Bangalore: The uproar for justice for the women in India has taken the streets of the country and this has brought the matter related to violence against women at domestic level to the forefront. As per a recent survey G-20, India has been ranked as the worst place to be a woman. The lives of many girls and women in India are constently subjected to violence which includes female foeticide, sexual harassment, domestic violence and gender inequality, which is the countries stark reality. However the domestic violence in India and worldwide is majorly underreported when surveyed or to the police, as reported by Sreeparna Ghosh for The Wall Street Journal.

As per the national survey the numbers on violence against women in the country draws a bleak picture. India records 8 percent of married women subjected to sexual violence like forced sex, whereas 31 percent of the married women have been physically abused with ‘less severe’ instances, like punching or slapping. The survey report shows 10 percent to have suffered ‘severe domestic violence’ like attack with a weapon or burning. 12 percent said that they suffered at least one physical injury as a result of the violence such as sprains, bruises, dislocation or burns, severe burns, broken bones or broken teeth and wounds.Along with the physical abuse, 14 percent Indian women will have experienced emotional abuse at some point in time in their lives. The percentage of women who reported injuries as a result of physical violence is estimated to be some 31 percent of married women from Tripura, 20 percent from Bihar, 19 percent from Assam and 15 percent from Uttarakhand. Most cases with less severe domestic violence are reported by women in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Rajasthan, Tripura, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh.

As per the 2009 figures of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) the states with the high rates of death due to dowry issues per 100,000 people are Bihar, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, in descending order. These states that shows the highest reported dowry deaths, have the lowest rate of cases recorded for domestic violence presenting the underreported cases of violence that exist in the country.

The analysis of the NCRB data indicates that in many parts of the country the domestic violence reported by women in national surveys never make it to the police or the courts. The deficit of the cases reported is surprisingly low, where as the violence has led to many deaths yet no strict code has been maintained to curb the situation and enforced law which establishes a system where the culprits think before inflicting such violence on women at home. The states with the highest record of serious injuries like burns, strangulations, dislocations and attacks with knives or other weapons are 28 percent in Tamil Nadu, 18 percent in Bihar, 15 percent each in Orissa and Uttar Pradesh, and 14 percent each in Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh. The less severe instances of abuse when not reported widens the gap between reality and false estimation of data. As seen there are 58 percent fewer cases reported to the police in Bihar, 44 percent fewer in Tamil Nadu, 42.5 percent in Uttar Pradesh and 41percent in Manipur.

It is still a significant concern that there are such wide differences of records kept and cases reported for domestic violence in the country, where the fight for justice and equality for women has become a primary subject for the government to consider.

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