It has been observed that two-third of Indian women (married) have faced domestic violence in their lives. Seventy per cent of married Indian women between the age of fifteen and fifty have been physically assaulted, raped or coerced into sex by their spouses according to a report generated by United Nation Population Fund.

Women coming from rural background in India are more vulnerable to domestic violence compared to their counterparts in urban areas. This is because of their vulnerability due to lack of education, exposure and opportunity – and the nature of Indian society.

The Indian state of Bihar tops the list of women, who are physically abused by their spouses. Married women from the state of Himachal Pradesh are found to be less likely to face violence at home, compared to other states in India.

Thirty seven percent of women Indian rural women have faced abuse and violence at home according to a new survey (survey 111) done by National Family Health body. They were found to be more vulnerable to violence due to lack of education. Rural women with no education are more easily violated by their spouses and in laws, but very few report this in public. However, it has been found that rural women with secondary or higher secondary education are also abused by their marital families more often, than those who are born and bred in urban areas and given less education.

It has also been observed that illiterate women face more violence from their husbands compared to literate women. According to National Family Health Survey-111, 37.2 per cent Indian married women have experienced violence and abuse by their spouse.

The survey states that 40.2 per cent Indian women from rural areas are facing more violence from their husbands compared to urban regions where the percentage is 30.4 except Bihar. In Bihar women from urban areas faced more violence then their sisters from rural areas. This was a strange phenomenon sited in the lawless state of Bihar. 62.2 per cent of its women were subjected to the trauma of domestic abuse in urban areas compared to 58.5 per cent of women from villages. The two big metros Delhi and Bombay were more humane in their treatment of women compared to other areas. 16.3 women emerged as battered in Delhi and 19.5 per cent in Mumbai.

The percentage of domestic abuse and violence perpetrated on women in other Indian states was found to be as under :-

46.3 – Rajasthan

45.8- Madhya Pradesh

44.1 – Tripura

43.9- Manipur

42.4 – Uttar Pradesh

40.3 – West Bengal

38.8 – Arunachal Pradesh

India is in its villages and even after sixty years of independence, Indian women are facing social slavery. A Nation which calls itself liberated and independent, still allows its woman to be physically, mentally and sexually abused by man. Indian husbands can hold their heads high in their society even after beating their wives, especially in rural regions.

Economic dependence and the ritualistic and regressive nature of village society have made rural Indian married women more vulnerable to violence in their homes. They almost never report the violence to a legal body and keep a tight lipped silence for life. They are raised to believe that it is normal to be violated by their men after marriage.