Study of domestic violence against married women in the field practice area of urban health training centre, Aurangabad, Maharashtra

Abstract

Background: Domestic violence is a global issue. It has a serious impact on woman’s health and well-being. So the present study was carried out to study domestic violence against married women in the field practice area of urban health training centre (UHTC). The objective of the study was to find out the magnitude of domestic violence in married women in last one year and to find out the type of violence to which females are subjected and factors associated with it. Methods: The present community based cross-sectional study was carried out in married women residing in catchment area of UHTC. Sample size was first estimated with help of epi info, which came out to be 275 by considering 23.6% as the prevalence of domestic violence from NFHS-4. 282 women of age 15-49 years were finally included in study who was interviewed by predesigned pretested questionnaire by female investigator. The questions were asked related to ‘do they suffer from domestic violence, type of domestic violence and from whom they suffer such type of violence.’ Results: The prevalence of married women experiencing domestic violence in last one year in the field practice area of UHTC is 21.63%, of which 57.71% and 50% experienced physical and psychological violence by partner respectively. Also the study revealed that education and occupation of couple plays an important role in domestic violence. Conclusions: Domestic violence represents the hidden iceberg in the society and hence more community awareness about domestic violence is needed.