A large number of Indians believe it's ok for husband to beat wife

Despite all their differences, there is one thing that men and women in India seem to have some consensus on – attitudes towards wife beating. Nearly half of both men and women from a total of 6,36,699 households in the country agree that a man can beat his wife if need be, reveals the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 5, 2019-2021, report. As per the survey, up to 45.4% women and 44% men agree with one or more of seven specified reasons for wife beating. This number has considerably dropped down for women but marginally risen for men when compared to the NFHS 4, which had marked these percentages at 52% women and 42% men.

As part of the survey, men and women aged between 15 and 49 were asked if they agree that a husband is justified in hitting or beating his wife under seven circumstances: she goes out without telling him, she neglects the house or the children, she argues with him, she refuses to have sex with him, she doesn’t cook food properly, he suspects her of being unfaithful, or she shows disrespect for her in-laws. NFHS 5 makes it clear that the respondents who answered ‘yes’ for at least one of these questions are considered to have attitudes that justify wife beating.

Sample size from southern states surveyed in NFHS 5

It may be noted that this percentage is way above the national average in all of the five southern states, with Telangana topping the country when it comes to women who justify wife beating (83.8%) for at least one of the seven specified reasons, as against 70.4% men who do so. Andhra Pradesh follows close behind with 83.6% women (and 66.5% men) believing that husbands can beat their wives. Karnataka has the highest percentage of men (81.9%) who believe that husbands can beat their wives, as against 76.9% women in the state who think so. In Tamil Nadu, 78.3% women and 56.2% men think the act is justifiable, while 52.4% women and 62.7% men in Kerala believe so as well.

Those who agree that husbands can beat wives for at least one of the seven specified reasons (in %)

While the survey provides a break up of the seven reasons used to justify wife-beating by their women respondents, it does not do so for men.

Reasons for which women respondents think husbands can beat their wives (in %)

The survey also finds that agreement with wife beating tends to increase with age for women, while for men, it slightly decreases with age. The report also states that among married women between the ages of 18 to 49 who have experienced physical violence since age 15, up to 84% have reported that their current husband is the perpetrator of the violence.

Apart from wife beating, the survey has also taken into account other forms of spousal violence, which includes physical, sexual and emotional violence. Around 29% of women reported to have experienced physical spousal violence in the preceding 12 months, with slapping being the most common form of such violence (25%).

According to the Violence Against Women Prevalence Estimates, 2018, released by WHO, on behalf of the United Nations Inter-Agency Working Group on Violence Against Women Estimation and Data, the estimated global prevalence of physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence among women between 15 and 49 years of age stands at 27%.

The NFHS 5 was conducted in two phases – Phase 1 covering 17 states and five Union Territories, and Phase 2 covering 11 states and three Union Territories – by 17 field agencies. Information was gathered from 6,36,699 households, 7,24,115 women, and 1,01,839 men.