Knowledge, Attitude and Practice on Gender Violence Amongst Married Women in India

Background: Gender Violence stigmatises women for life, rendering them powerless to take control of their health. Because of the culture of silence and unequal power-sharing in our society between married couples, women become more prone to gender violence. This study was done to understand the knowledge of gender violence, attitudes towards gender violence and the practice of gender violence among married females. Material & Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 218 married females in the age group of 18-49 years. A structured questionnaire was prepared and shared through different social media platforms. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 23.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp. Result: Almost half of the participants (74.8%) had knowledge of gender-based violence. Among the participants, 34 (15.6%) of the women experienced physical violence from their husbands, whereas only 24 (11.0%) of women reported violence to the authority. Among the participants, 75 (34.4%) women said that they are not in favour of reporting to the police or the authority if they experience violence at home by their husbands or in-laws.