Child Marriage and Intimate Partner Violence in India: A National Study

Abstract

Child marriage (CM) and intimate partner violence (IPV) are two global public health concerns, particularly in developing nations such as India. Despite this, evidence of the association between the two is limited. This study aims to examine the association between CM and lifetime experiences of IPV among Indian women. The study utilized the National Family Health Survey, 2019–2021 (NFHS-5), a large scale representative survey, to examine the association between CM and lifetime experiences of IPV in India. A total of 60,480 participants (Mage = 33.67 years) were included in the analysis. The prevalence of CM in the current sample was 38.3%. Experiencing any form of IPV, including emotional IPV, physical IPV, injuries, and sexual IPV, was reported by 29.9%, 11.9%, 26.4%, 6.0%, and 5.2%, participants respectively. Logistic regressions indicated that getting married before the age of 18 was significantly associated with experiencing any form of IPV (odds ratio (OR) = 1.52, 95% CI = 1.47–1.58, p < 0.01)), emotional IPV (OR = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.26–1.49, p < 0.01), physical IPV (OR = 1.58, 95% CI = 1.52–1.63, p < 0.01), injuries (OR = 1.61, 95% CI = 1.51–1.72, p < 0.01), and sexual IPV (OR = 1.42, 95% CI = 1.32–1.53, p < 0.01) from their intimate partners. Findings suggest that interventions are required for substantial reductions in CM and IPV.