The Rural-Urban Gap in Domestic Violence and Women’s Economic Empowerment

Abstract

Rural and urban regions have different social structures and norms and therefore, women’s condition also considerably varies. In this paper, the rural-urban gap in domestic violence and women’s economic empowerment is analyzed. The study is conducted on NFHS-5 (2020=21) data. The result shows that women from rural areas experience higher domestic violence than women from urban areas. Women from rural areas are also found to be less empowered than women from urban areas. The study further shows that women’s economic empowerment is significant in reducing domestic violence. If women are working, then domestic violence is less likely to occur. Factors that increase the likelihood of domestic violence are women’s higher education and earnings than men’s, age differences, controlling issues, and alcohol drinking by husbands.