30% of Indian women face physical, sexual abuses: report

New Delhi: A recent report has revealed that almost one-third of women in India have experienced physical or sexual violence. The National Family Health Survey-5 report (NFHS-5), released on Thursday, testified that 30 per cent of Indian women aged from 18 to 49 had experienced physical violence since the age of 15, and 6 per cent endured sexual violence. However, domestic violence against the gender has come down from 31.2 per cent to 29.3 per cent, The Indian Express reported.

The report says that only 14 per cent of those subjected to physical or sexual violence brought the issue to light.

Further, 32 per cent of married women aged 18-49 have experienced physical, sexual, or emotional violence from their spouse. The most common violence from the spouse is physical (28 per cent) and is followed by emotional and sexual violence.

The report says that, against the above statistics, only 4 per cent of men face domestic violence in India.

State-wise, Karnataka is at the top with 48 per cent of cases of domestic violence against women, and Bihar is in the second position. The two are followed by Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur and Tamil Nadu. Lakshadweep recorded the least cases of domestic violence, with 2.1 per cent.

Physical violence against women is most common in rural areas, at 32 per cent, while it is 24 per cent in urban areas, the report says. But women being subjected to violence is found to be inversely proportional to their educational status, so such experiences drop sharply with increased schooling and wealth. The same applies to the male perpetrators, too, it added.

According to the report, 40 per cent of women with zero schooling faced physical violence against 18 per cent who completed schooling. While 39 per cent of women in the lowest wealth quintile faced physical violence, those who endured it in the highest quintile were only 17 per cent.

The report further says that, in more than 80 per cent of physical violence against women, their husbands were the perpetrators. Twenty-one per cent of husbands who had completed 12 years or more of schooling involved in physical violence against their wives, against 43 per cent with no education.

The report inferred that alcohol consumption levels also influenced husbands' involvement in violence. Seventy per cent of women married to men who drink faced spousal physical or sexual violence against 23 per cent of women married to men who do not drink. Finally, women in the age group of 40-49 endured more violence than those of 18-19 ages, the report added.

The NFHS-5 report was released by the Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandviya on Thursday.