Domestic Violence Against Women: A Psychological Perspective

The most widely used definition of violence against women (VAW) is the Declaration on Elimination of Violence Against Women adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1993, defines Violence Against Women as “any act of gender based violence against women that results in or is likely to result in physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivations of liberty, whether occurring in public or private spaces”. Ahuja (1998) and Visaria (1999) have recently conducted studies on ‘domestic violence’ within marital relationship. The findings of their study have been discussed below. Domestic violence has been defined as “all actions by the family against one of its members that threaten the life, body, psychological integrity or liberty of the member. (Anthony and Miller, cited in Adriana Gomez, 1996) In identifying factors leading to wife beating, both Visaria and Ahuja, in their survey, have tested the co-relationship between wife beating and education. According to Visaria’s (1999) survey in Gujarat, illiterate women face more violence than literate women. Relationship between abusive behaviour and level of education has been found to be statistically significant (Visaria 1999:12). Illiterate women and those with education up to primary level (class 4) tend to be more subjected to violence as compared to those who had received education beyond the primary level. However, one has to keep in mind that the percentage of literate women in Gujarat is overall only between 20% to 50%. In one district, Banaskantha in Kutch, the total percentage of literate women is even lesser than 20%. In contrast a study by Ahuja (1998) shows that there is no significant relationship between beating and educational level of the couple. Educated women are beaten as much by their husbands as those who are illiterate or less educated.