Domestic Violence against Women in India: Does Empowerment Matter?

Abstract

Past research on domestic violence in India recurrently highlight women’s economic empowerment as a major deterrent to domestic violence. That said, this paper tries to understand what is the nature of relationship between women’s empowerment and their experience of spousal violence? In doing so, it specifically explores how this relationship is interceded by regional specificities. Based on an analysis of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5 data in India, this paper observes that the relationship between women’s empowerment and domestic violence is contentious. However, women having some education and using mobile phones are less vulnerable. Hence, this study concludes that mobile phones and Internet-based applications as well as community-based interventions could be the effective measures to end domestic violence.