A lot of Indians still believe in wife beating: survey

Men in India are still largely in denial of wife beating.

Now nearly half of both men and women surveyed say a man can beat his wife if need arises.

The National Family Health Survey 5, however, recorded 7 per cent drop in the number of women who believed men could beat their wives, compared to the previous NFHS 4 survey.

The survey notably reported a marginal spike in the number of men who still believed in beating their wives, according to a report in The News Minute.

Wife beating seems to the only thing on which both sexes in India converge their opinions.

Because, men and women in 6, 36,699 households in the country agreed on wife beating, the survey found.

The survey found 45.4% women and 44% men agreeing to one or more of seven reasons suggested to beat a wife.

This recorded a drop from 52 per cent for women previously, as for men a rise from 42 per cent in NFHS 4 survey.

The survey asked men and women aged between 15 and 49 if a husband was alright to hit or beat 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, according to the report.

According to NFHS 5, answering 'yes' to at least one question indicated attitudes of wife beating.

The five southern states had high the national average with Telangana topping the list in justifying wife beating. 83.8 per cent of women in the state responded favourably to at least one of the seven questions. On the contrary, 70.4% men in the state would do so.

Andhra Pradesh follows close behind with 83.6% women (and 66.5% men). Karnataka reported highest percentage of men (81.9%) believing in wife beating, against its 76.9% women.

In Tamil Nadu, 78.3% women and 56.2% men justified the act. 52.4% women and 62.7% men in Kerala believe so as well.

Up to 84% of married women between the ages of 18 to 49, who experienced physical violence, blamed it on their current husbands.

The survey also took into account other spousal violence including 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%), the report said.