17% of Goan women are beaten by their husbands: survey

NT NETWORK
Posted on 2009-01-17
PANAJI- The National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) for Goa as undertaken by the International Institute for Population Sciences for the ministry of health and family welfare, government of India, states that though the prevalence of spousal violence in Goa is much lower than the national average and currently stands at 17 per cent, the trend is quite serious with about one in six married women having reported experiencing spousal violence, either physical or sexual in nature.
The report released at the secretariat on Friday morning in the presence of the officials of the directorate of health services makes observations about the domestic violence in Goa and states, “Spousal violence decreases with education, however, even among women, who have at least 10 years of education, nine per cent of them have experienced spousal violence.
“In Goa, only 28 per cent of the women, who have experienced violence, have sought help to end the violence,” it maintained, adding, “More than three out of five women have neither sought help nor told anyone about the violence.”
Furthermore, the report states, “Abused women in Goa, who seek help, most often approach for help to their own family, while five per cent of the abused women seek help from the police, higher than the national average of 2 per cent.” It is also informed in the document that about one-fourth or 23 per cent women in Goa, who have experienced spousal physical or sexual violence, suffered injuries as a result of the violence.
Strangely, for a majority of women in Goa, who have ever experienced spousal violence, the violence first occurred within the first three years of their marriage.
As regards the types of spousal violence in Goa, the survey notes, “Sixteen per cent of the married women report having been slapped by their husband, 5 to 7 per cent report having their arms twisted or hair pulled; being pushed, shaken, kicked, or having something thrown at them; being kicked, dragged or beaten up; or being punched with his fist or something that could hurt.”
“Three per cent report that their husbands have physically forced them to have sex against their will, while 1 per cent report that they have been forced by their husband to perform sexual acts that they did not want to perform,” says the document, pointing out, “Overall, 17 per cent of the married women in Goa have experienced spousal physical or sexual violence from their current husband, and if currently not married, their most recent husband.”
“Twelve per cent women report having ever experienced spousal emotional violence, while two per cent of them report having ever initiated violence against their husband,” the survey concludes.
Providing more observations on the topic, the report says, “Despite the relatively low prevalence of spousal physical or sexual violence among all married women aged 15-49 in Goa, the prevalence among some groups of women is still quite high.” “For example, 36 per cent of women with no education and 33 to 39 per cent women in the two lowest wealth quintiles, report ever having experienced spousal physical or sexual violence,” it pointes out.
The report further informs, “More than one-half (54 per cent) of women, whose husbands consume alcohol and get drunk experience spousal violence, compared with 8 per cent of women, whose husbands do not consume alcohol.”
The data also highlight contextual and intergenerational aspects of spousal violence: women, whose mothers were beaten up by their fathers, are more than twice as likely to report violence (32 per cent) than women, whose mothers were not beaten up by their fathers (13 per cent).
Finally, remarking on the gender-role attitudes, the report notes that 39 per cent of women in Goa believe that it is justifiable for a husband to beat his wife under some circumstances. “Women are most likely to say wife-beating is justified if she neglects the house or children (26 per cent) or if she shows disrespect for her in-laws (22 per cent). Men are almost equally likely to agree that wife-beating is justified (35 per cent), in some circumstances,” it maintains.
Interestingly, the report observes, “Two-thirds of women in Goa believe that a woman is justified in refusing to have sex with her husband for all three of the following reasons: If she knows, he has a sexually transmitted disease, if she knows, he has intercourse with other women, and if she is tired or not in the mood. However, a smaller proportion of men (48 per cent) agree that a wife is justified in refusing to have sex with her husband in all of these circumstances.”